Health Data

States of Guernsey: A serious breach

Seen on the ThisIsGuernsey web site: A MAJOR security flaw left exposed the whole of the States internet system and put at risk personal data belonging to individuals in a care home. At this stage, it is not known whether there has been any malicious access to the information.What was a catastrophe waiting to...

Our P2P Investigation Turns Up Business Data Galore

Avi Baumstein writes in InformationWeek: Are peer-to-peer networks really filled with sensitive corporate data just waiting to be plucked and abused? It seems unlikely–surely people wouldn’t be that sloppy. Like a 19th century prospector, I decided to dip my pan into the stream to see what I could find. The results were shocking and...

Ex-hospital guard, two others charged in identity theft scheme

The Boston Globe reports: A former security guard at Rhode Island Hospital is accused of stealing identity information of emergency room patients and then opening cell phone accounts at a RadioShack store in Cranston. Michael Bermudez is charged with identity theft along with the store manager, Hector Alvarez, who prosecutors say participated in the...

UCLA workers snooped in Spears' medical records

Charles Ornstein reports in the Los Angeles Times: UCLA Medical Center is taking steps to fire at least 13 employees and has suspended at least six others for snooping in the confidential medical records of pop star Britney Spears, who was recently hospitalized in its psychiatric ward, a person familiar with the matter said...

Laptop with patient information stolen from University Health Care

Sarah Dallof of KSL reports: Thousands of people are being cautioned to keep their eyes on their credit reports tonight. A laptop with names, Social Security numbers and personal health information was stolen from University Health Care in Salt Lake City. The laptop was reported missing Feb. 25. University Health Care began mailing out...

UK: "No one to blame" for patient info leak

Tomasz Johnson reports in the Hendon Times: Investigations into how confidential patient records were found in a Potters Bar road have failed to attribute blame for the security breach. Details of serious illnesses and outpatient forms belonging to patients at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, Whipps Cross University Hospital and London Ambulance Service ended up strewn...

Hacking Medical Devices (update 1)

Bruce Schneier writes about recent news stories concerning hacking medical devices: Okay, so this could be big news: But a team of computer security researchers plans to report Wednesday that it had been able to gain wireless access to a combination heart defibrillator and pacemaker.They were able to reprogram it to shut down and...