Two recent hacking incidents – one involving ransomware and the other involving the exfiltration of sensitive data for hundreds of thousands of individuals – are among the latest examples of the serious cybersecurity threats and risks facing healthcare organizations and their patients’ information.
The data exfiltration incident, which was the larger of the two, was reported last month by Seattle, Washington-based Sea Mar Community Health Centers, which operates dozens of medical, behavioral health and dental clinics, and social service programs in the region.
The ransomware incident was first reported to regulators in July by the North Oklahoma County Mental Health Center, which operates under the NorthCare name, but details about the compromise were recently updated. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma-based NorthCare offers a variety of services for children, adults, and families recovering from mental illness, substance abuse, trauma and other crises.
