HIPAA Breach Report for February 2023

The HIPAA breach report for February 2023 analyzes protected health information (PHI) breaches affecting 500 or more people as reported to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in January 2023.

This report covers:

• HIPAA breaches ranked by people affected
• HIPAA breaches ranked by occurrence
• Year-over-year comparison
• Takeaways
• Full data

HIPAA breaches ranked by people affected

Most common breaches by type

• Network server breaches affected the most people in January 2023. 580,074 individuals had their data breached.
• Email breaches were the second most common breach, with 214,258 people affected.
• Electronic medical record breaches affected 144,828 people, the third most common breach type.

HIPAA breaches ranked by occurrence

Most common breach types

• Network server was the most common attack vector in January 2023. There were 18 network server breaches.
• Email breaches were the second most common attack vector. There were 8 email breaches.
• Other breaches were the third most common attack vector, garnering 5 attacks during the month.

Year-over-year comparison

These charts compare the HIPAA data breach statistics from previous Paubox HIPAA Breach Reports (February 2019, February 2020, February 2021, February 2022) with this month's report.

HIPAA breaches ranked by people affected

What we observe

• Network server, email, and other breaches affected the most people overall across this comparison.
• Email breaches had the biggest impact in January 2020, with 361,705 people affected.

HIPAA breaches ranked by occurrence

What we observe

• Email, network server, and paper/films breach types were the most common attack vectors in this comparison.
• Network server breaches more than doubled in January 2022 compared to January 2021.
• The highest number of paper/films breaches occurred in January 2022.

Takeaways

Network server breaches affected the most people in January 2023. Community Psychiatry Management, LLC, dba Mindpath Health had the most significant breach that affected 193,947 people. BayCare Clinic, LLP had the second-largest breach, which affected 134,000 people.

The yearly comparison shows that email breaches were the most popular attack vectors for bad actors over the last five January months. Over 1 million total individuals had their data accessed via 62 email breaches during this time.

Full data

Click here to view the HHS' raw data via Google Sheets.

About the Paubox HIPAA Breach Report

The Paubox HIPAA Breach Report analyzes recent PHI breaches that affected 500 or more individuals, as reported on the HHS Wall of Shame in January 2023.

SEE ALSO: HIPAA Compliant Email: The Definitive Guide

Robust inbound email security is a necessity for businesses today. Keeping your email security strategy updated helps ensure the protection of your network.