Data Breach Alphabet Soup

Examines why incident response plans that audit cleanly fail in practice: one-off training, tabletop exercises without real pressure, and responders not cut out for 3 a.m. containment.

Healthcare organizations swing between embracing social media and imposing Orwellian policies with web filtering. The author argues neither works and advocates education and reasonable limits.

X-ray films awaiting disposal are stolen for their silver content, forcing costly breach notifications. The author recommends securing storage rooms or digitizing and safely destroying films.

Mayo Clinic launched a Center for Social Media to train practitioners on responsible use, addressing PHI risks as EMR sharing expands. The author favors its guidance over blanket blocking.

I recently had the opportunity to review an article by Michael Koploy of Software Advice titled "HHS Data Tells the True Story of HIPAA Violations in the Cloud".

In a March 25 front page article in the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, it was revealed that sensitive records including employee Social Security Numbers, payroll information, and medical records, from a long-defunct tech company were inadvertently auctioned off along with the filing cabinets they were stored in.