Health Data Privacy Risk Management

The draft of the new HIPAA cybersecurity rules dropped today, and it includes some major changes. 11 Big takeaways in proposal: 1) Enhanced Risk Management: 1.a) Formalizes and expands the risk analysis process to include evolving threats like ransomware and supply chain vulnerabilities. 1.b) Mandates comprehensive documentation of risk management activities, ensuring organizations take a more proactive and structured approach. 2) MFA required for all remote access systems containing ePHI 3) Mandates regular technical vulnerability assessments, such as penetration testing, to identify and mitigate security gaps 4) Requires encryption of ePHI at rest and in transit, adhering to NIST-recommended standards 5) Requires a formalized incident response plan with clear steps for detecting, containing, mitigating, and reporting incidents involving ePHI. 6) Formalizes supply chain risk management by requiring risk assessments for third-party vendors and integrating cybersecurity requirements into contracts and vendor oversight. 7) Mandates tailored cybersecurity training for specialized roles, such as incident response teams or system administrators. 8) Requires designated cybersecurity governance structures, ensuring accountability for cybersecurity policies and strategies. 9) Requires continuous monitoring tools and enhanced logging capabilities to detect and respond to anomalous activity. 10) Expands disaster recovery planning to specifically address cybersecurity considerations, including ransomware scenarios. 11) Updates and clarifies definitions to align with modern threats and technology, ensuring clearer compliance expectations and expanding scope to fit modern threat landscapes. #HealthcareCompliance #cybersecurity #riskmanagement #healthtech Link to proposed changes in comments 👇

Let’s say you’re a newly hired Third-Party Risk Analyst at a mid-sized healthcare company. During your onboarding, you realize that while they have dozens of vendors handling sensitive patient data (think billing companies, cloud services, and telehealth providers), they have no formal third-party risk assessments documented. First, you would start by building a basic Third-Party Inventory. You’d gather a list of all vendors, what services they provide, and what kind of data they have access to. You would focus on vendors that touch patient records (Protected Health Information, or PHI) because HIPAA requires stricter handling for that kind of data. Next, you would create a simple vendor risk rating system. For example, any vendor handling PHI = High Risk, vendors with financial data = Medium Risk, vendors with only public data = Low Risk. You’d organize vendors into those categories so leadership can prioritize attention. Then, you would prepare a basic Due Diligence Questionnaire to send out. It would ask things like: • Do you encrypt PHI data in transit and at rest? • Do you have a current SOC 2 report? • Have you had any breaches in the last 12 months? After collecting responses, you would review them and flag any vendors who seem high-risk (like no encryption, no audit reports, or recent breaches). You’d recommend follow-ups, like contract updates, requiring security improvements, or even switching providers if needed. Finally, you would propose setting up a recurring third-party review schedule — maybe every 6 or 12 months — so that vendor risk stays managed continuously, not just one time.

Why Health Data (Heart Rate, Height, Weight) is Classified as Sensitive under Saudi PDPL 🇸🇦as well as other privacy regulations. Health data, including biometric measurements like heart rate, height, and weight, is considered sensitive because: ⚪️ Directly linked to an individual’s physical well-being and medical history. ⚪️ Could be misused by employers, insurers, or advertisers (e.g., denying jobs/coverage based on health metrics). ⚪️ Even anonymized, combining height/weight with other data can reveal identities. 🔻Risk Scenario Example🔻 A fitness app collects users’ heart rate and weight to provide health insights. A data breach exposes this information. Risks ▪️Insurance Discrimination: Health insurers could raise premiums for users with high heart rates. ▪️Blackmail: Malicious actors target individuals with "abnormal" health data. ▪️False Medical Profiling: Employers might assume obesity = lower productivity. 🔶Best Practices When Collecting HealthData🔶 🔸Explicit Consent & Transparency** - Clearly state: *"We collect heart rate to customize workouts. Data is encrypted and never sold."* 🔸Anonymize/Aggregate Where possible Store aggregated trends (e.g., "30% of users improved heart health") instead of individual records. 🔸PDPL Compliance: Use de-identification techniques and restrict access to authorized personnel only. 🔸Secure Storage - Encrypt data in transit (SSL) and at rest (AES-256). Avoid third-party cloud storage unless certified. 🔸Right to Delete - Allow users to request permanent data deletion (e.g., PDPL’s "Right of Deletion").

The NY Attorney General's Office (NYAG) fined a HIPAA "covered entity" $4.5 million after a hack resulted in loss of 1.4 terabytes of data, some of which contained patient information. See https://lnkd.in/d3vXcTFe. Here's what the company did wrong according to the NYAG:   1. ACCESS CONTROLS AND AUTHENTICATION: The Company failed to implement and maintain appropriate controls to limit access to sensitive data, including failing to use multi-factor authentication for remote access to email, failing to delete or disable unused accounts, failing to rotate account credentials, sharing account credentials among multiple individuals, and failing to restrict employees' access to only those resources and data necessary for their business functions.   2. PROTECTION OF SENSITIVE INFORMATION: The Company failed to encrypt all sensitive patient data maintained at rest.   3. AUDIT CONTROLS AND MONITORING: The Company failed to implement appropriate controls for recording, and reviewing records of, user activity on its network.   4. RISK MANAGEMENT AND TESTING: The Company failed to regularly conduct appropriate risk management analyses and testing of the security of its systems.   5. SECURITY POLICIES: The Company failed to adequately maintain and adhere to written policies governing information security, asset management, identity and access management, encryption, risk management, network management, vulnerability management, and the retention of patient data.   OF NOTE: In fining the Company, the NYAG noted specific violations of HIPAA's Security Rule and Breach Notification Rule, demonstrating that the NYAG will enforce violations of HIPAA, at least where other rules have purportedly been broken (here, NY Executive Law § 63(12) and NY General Business Law § 899-bb).   ALSO: In fining the Company, the NYAG seems to have found it significant that the Company's 2021 Security Risk Assessment, resulted in numerous findings that had not been remediated in the approximately two years prior to this incident. The failure to remediate these findings may have contributed to the incident.   KEY TAKEAWAYS:   A. Most (if not all) of these deficiencies are often considered table stakes. If your organization stores sensitive PII, and suffers from similar deficiencies, these are gaps you will want to close sooner rather than later.   B. If you have not done so recently, consider engaging an independent expert to conduct a thorough cyber program assessment (CPA). See https://lnkd.in/eQ9wYbxT.   B. Once you get the results of the CPA, prepare a detailed roadmap to timely implement any suggested improvements. See https://lnkd.in/e3f5yXnN.   C. If you are considering acquiring or investing in an entity, consider conducting thorough cyber diligence, including technical testing, and quickly implementing a roadmap to address any significant findings. See https://lnkd.in/e3b43d4c.   Congrats to my former colleagues at the NYAG's office, Jordan Adler and Clark Russell! 

This paper systematically analyzes the existing literature on personal health data breaches, focusing on the facilitators and impacts of these breaches. It reviews 120 articles, summarizing the findings into an integrative model that offers a multifaceted view of health data breaches. The study also identifies gaps in the current literature and suggests avenues for future research, providing a comprehensive understanding that is valuable for both practitioners and researchers in managing data breach risks effectively. 1️⃣ The paper reveals that personal health data breaches pose significant challenges, as the worth of an individual’s medical record far exceeds that of credit card details in the darknet market. This makes the healthcare sector particularly vulnerable to cyber threats. 2️⃣ The study emphasizes that healthcare organizations exhibit higher vulnerability to data breaches compared to other sectors due to multiple actors having access to personal health data, inadequate staffing, and investments in IT security. 3️⃣ The paper develops an integrative model based on the analysis, which can be a valuable tool for evidence-based data breach risk management, offering guidance for future investigations and enhancing the collective understanding of personal health data breaches within healthcare. This paper is worth reading as it provides a comprehensive and systematic analysis of personal health data breaches, offering valuable insights and a practical model for managing risks associated with data breaches in the healthcare sector. It also identifies gaps and suggests future research directions, making it a valuable resource for researchers and practitioners aiming to enhance data security in healthcare. 🌐⇢ https://lnkd.in/eTx5brVR ✍🏻 Javad Pool, Saeed Akhlaghpour, Farhad Fatehi, Andrew Burton-Jones. "A systematic analysis of failures in protecting personal health data: A scoping review." International Journal of Information Management 74 (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2023.102719 ✅ Sign up for my newsletter to stay updated on the most fascinating studies related to digital health and innovation: https://lnkd.in/eR7qichj

You just had a HIPAA breach? Breathe.....then move fast! (Save this post for the future) When protected health info (PHI) leaks, the first 24 hours will most likely determine if you’ll be remembered for chaos or competence. So today, I have brought you a simple blueprint I'd follow 👇🏾 1. Quickly isolate the affected systems, lock down access, and kick off a forensic investigation so you know what, when, and how; before attackers erase the breadcrumbs. 2. Document the nature of the PHI, who touched it, whether it was actually viewed/acquired, and how much you’ve mitigated so far. If the probability of compromise isn’t “low,” it’s officially a reportable breach. 3. Notify every affected individual “without unreasonable delay” and absolutely no later than Day 60. If the breach hit 500+ people, please make sure to tell HHS and the media at the same time. If fewer than 500 were impacted by the breach, you'll only need to log it and include it in your annual HHS report. 4. HIPAA spells out the must‑haves: what happened, which data types were exposed, the steps people should take, what you’ve done to plug the hole, and a hotline/email for questions. Bonus points if you provide for free credit‑monitoring codes to those impacted. 5. Lastly, please patch the root cause, retrain staff, and update policies, then keep every action in a breach file. Good‑faith compliance radically lowers penalties and proves you’re serious about protecting patient trust. Remember that a clear, rehearsed response plan buys you time, credibility, and in many cases, millions in avoided fines. Check out #kiteworks full guide for more information. https://lnkd.in/em-zaBcs

The only thing more devastating for an organization's bottom line than a nearly $5M payout is the resulting press. There's no better example than the Montefiore breach, resulting from a former employee selling patient information to cyber-criminals almost a decade ago. Montefiore is required to conduct a comprehensive assessment of its EHRs, develop a risk management plan, implement mechanisms to monitor and record activity within systems, and enhance policies and procedures to comply with HIPAA rules. The settlement emphasizes the need for healthcare organizations to address cybersecurity risks promptly and vigilantly, with sector-wide breaches on the rise. Patients have rightfully become increasingly concerned about the security and privacy of their personal data within healthcare organizations. Establishing a sense of trust between patients and healthcare organizations is paramount, as it plays a crucial role in patient engagement, information sharing, and overall care outcomes. Cybersecurity incidents can have a devastating impact on this trust. The repercussions of such incidents can range from identity theft and financial fraud to the potential misuse of health data for discrimination or extortion. Patients must trust that healthcare organizations prioritize robust cybersecurity measures to safeguard their data, as the consequences of breaches extend beyond mere financial loss to the erosion of trust, which is highly detrimental to the patient-provider relationship and brand reputation as a whole. #Cybersecurity #Healthcare #HIPAA #DataBreach

🔐 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘇𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗹𝘆? My latest article unpacks the power of 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗽𝗵𝗶𝗰 𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗿𝘆𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻—a method enabling data to stay encrypted during computation, making analytics both insightful and secure. Why homomorphic encryption? ·     It allows 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗿𝘆𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 without decrypting it, keeping data private end-to-end. ·     Ideal for sectors like healthcare, finance, and government, where confidentiality is paramount. ·     Helps meet compliance standards and 𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀. Homomorphic encryption paves the way for 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗲, 𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲-𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝗶𝘀, empowering organizations to extract valuable insights without exposing sensitive information. As privacy regulations tighten and data risks increase, this technology is more relevant than ever. Discover how this innovation is reshaping data analytics by reading the full article. #DataPrivacy #HomomorphicEncryption #HealthcareAnalytics #DataSecurity #Innovation ------------------------     ✅ Follow me on LinkedIn at https://lnkd.in/gU6M_RtF to stay connected with my latest posts. ✅ Subscribe to my newsletter “𝑫𝒆𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒚 𝑫𝒂𝒕𝒂 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑨𝑰” https://lnkd.in/gF4aaZpG to stay connected with my latest articles. ✅ Please 𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞, Repost, 𝐅𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰, 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐒𝐚𝐯𝐞 if you find this post insightful. ✅ Please click the 🔔icon under my profile for notifications!