A ransomware gang said it is giving a Chicago safety-net hospital two days to pay a nearly $900,000 ransom or else it will leak its patients' data, The Record reported Jan. 31.

IT and phone systems went down Jan. 31 at Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, causing appointments to be delayed and parents unable to access MyChart.

Three health systems were listed as top companies for data breaches in a Jan. 25 report from nonprofit Identity Theft Resource Center. 

A data breach can have a serious impact on a hospital's financial and reputational well-being.

A hacker who pleaded guilty to aiding hospital cyberattacks was sentenced to five years and four months in prison.

The HHS has released a set of voluntary cybersecurity performance goals tailored to the healthcare sector that aim to help protect the industry from cyberattacks and improve response when events occur. 

Cincinnati-based Bon Secours Mercy Health is the latest big health system to face a lawsuit over a data breach involving a medical transcription vendor.

Nashville, Tenn.-based Ardent Health Services said an unauthorized actor extracted copies of documents containing patient information from its organization and affiliates during a Nov. 23 ransomware attack.

Columbus Regional Healthcare System's May 2023 data breach has affected 132,000 people, Cybernews reported Jan. 22. 

Hackers have been impersonating hospital revenue cycle workers and tricking IT staff into giving them log-in credentials to steal money from the health systems, the American Hospital Association warned.

Money Message ransomware gang is claiming to be responsible for the Dec. 24 hack on Newburyport, Mass.-based Anna Jaques Hospital, The Record reported Jan. 19. 

Hackers are increasingly attempting to extort patients directly as health systems bolster their cyber defenses, Bloomberg Law reported Jan. 22.

Hackers pilfered about $7.5 million from HHS last year using a technique called "spearfishing," illustrating the continued cybersecurity threat facing healthcare, Bloomberg reported.

As ransomware attacks on hospitals and health systems hit an all-time high in 2023, executives, legislators and patients alike are searching for a solution.

The FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and National Counterterrorism Center announced Jan. 12 ongoing bomb threats to multiple public institutions, including hospitals and health systems.

Singing River Health System has notified 253,000 patients that their data was compromised in a data breach in 2023.

A cloud-storage firm has returned stolen data to a New York health system that had sued to get it back, Information Security Media Group reported.

A third-party vendor said Glendale-based Ascension Wisconsin may have been caught in a cyberattack that compromised patient data.

As healthcare organizations across the country are seeing an increase in cybersecurity incidents coupled with a rise in violence against nurses, physicians and hospital staff, San Diego-based Scripps Health has hired a new secret weapon to try to make the organization safer. 

A former health system executive was sentenced to two years of probation for violating HIPAA, HIPAA Journal reported Jan. 9.