News & Analysis as of

Ransomware Office of Civil Rights Business Associates

Smith Anderson

$175K HIPAA Settlement Underscores Business Associate Risk Analysis Obligations

Smith Anderson on

In a recent settlement with an accounting firm, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) reinforced its ongoing commitment to holding business associates accountable for the...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

OCR’s “Risk Analysis” Enforcement Initiative Continues Against Another Business Associate

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

On August 18, 2025, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced a settlement with BST & Co. CPAs, LLP (BST). The announcement continues OCR’s escalating enforcement of the HIPAA...more

Holland & Knight LLP

What HIPAA Security Rule Surprises Await Healthcare Providers for the Second Half of 2024?

Holland & Knight LLP on

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has, as part of its mandate, the responsibility to enforce the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Security Rule....more

Bricker Graydon LLP

HHS Issue Six Figure Penalty for Ransomware Attack

Bricker Graydon LLP on

Late last year, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued its first HIPAA settlement agreement involving a ransomware attack. In the press release announcing the settlement, HHS stated that they began...more

Saul Ewing LLP

Business Associate Agrees to $100,000 Settlement Following Cyber Attack

Saul Ewing LLP on

On Halloween, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced a $100,000 settlement under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) with Doctors’...more

Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA)

Still Missing a New Leader, Former OCR Directors, Experts Offer Advice, Task List

Issue a final rule revising the privacy regulation and write guidance on the information blocking rule. Formalize the fledgling audit program required by Congress more than 10 years ago. Engage with providers and other...more

NAVEX

4 Ways to Protect ePHI Beyond HIPAA Compliance

NAVEX on

Given the choice between credit card data and digital health records, cybercriminals prefer the latter. A stolen credit card can be canceled. Electronic protected health information (ePHI) with its treasure-trove of...more

Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA)

Big Breaches, Down in First Half of 2020, Show Role of BAs; Increase May Be Coming

Report on Patient Privacy 20, no. 7 (July 2020) - During the first six months of this year, 228 breaches affecting 500 or more individuals were reported to the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR), and of the top 20, five...more

Mintz - Privacy & Cybersecurity Viewpoints

A New Decade of HIPAA – What Can We Expect?

As the decade winds down, it’s hard to believe that the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules are almost twenty years old. It has been ten years since the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights...more

Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA)

Report on Patient Privacy Volume 19, Number 11. Privacy Briefs: November 2019

Report on Patient Privacy Volume 19, Number 11. (November 2019) ? The biggest threat to protected health information comes from carelessness within your organization, according to a brief from the Clearwater...more

Latham & Watkins LLP

How Can Healthcare Organizations Prepare for the Next Cyberattack?

Latham & Watkins LLP on

HHS OCR issues checklist, iterative guidance in wake of WannaCry and Petya attacks; Anthem breach settlement provides additional lessons. Key Points: ..Healthcare organizations are particularly vulnerable to ransomware...more

Harris Beach Murtha PLLC

OCR Releases Checklist On What To Do Following A Cyber Attack

Since the WannaCry ransomware virus spread rapidly across the globe, businesses, both large and small, are again focusing on cyber-security. In a previous bulletin, we detailed five things that a business can do to help...more

Robinson+Cole Data Privacy + Security Insider

November the Worst Month Yet for Healthcare Breaches

We have repeatedly reiterated numerous warnings to the healthcare industry about malware and ransomware [see related posts here and here]. Our predictions have unfortunately become true, as November was the worst month ever...more

BakerHostetler

A Closer Look at the OCR’s Guidance on Ransomware

BakerHostetler on

In the wake of several high-profile ransomware infections targeting hospitals and health care organizations, the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has issued guidance on the growing threat...more

Harris Beach Murtha PLLC

Health Care Group News: Bitcoin. System Lockdown. Data Held Hostage. Ransom Demand.

If company executives are discussing the terms listed above, then their company is likely to have experienced better days. However, if the executives are in the "C Suite" or are the Compliance Officer, Privacy Officer and/or...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

OCR Issues Guidance on Ransomware Attacks and Determining Whether a Reportable HIPAA Breach Exists

The Office of Civil Rights (“OCR”) has issued new guidance in connection with an increase of malicious cyberattacks, namely ransomware attacks on healthcare organization’s computer systems. Ransomware is a defined by HHS as a...more

McGuireWoods LLP

OCR Makes It Official: Ransomware Attacks Are HIPAA Breaches

McGuireWoods LLP on

Ransomware attacks appear to be increasing in frequency as well as severity. Ransomware is malicious software that encrypts data until a ransom is paid to the hacker. For healthcare providers, the inability to access...more

Foley Hoag LLP - Security, Privacy and the...

HHS OCR Guidance on Ransomware Attacks: They Constitute a “Security Incident” and Are Likely a Data Breach

On July 11, 2016, the HHS Office of Civil Rights (OCR) released guidance on HIPAA covered entities’ responsibilities in a ransomware attack, a type of cyber-attack that has targeted the health care sector extensively in...more

Baker Donelson

Ransomware Attack is a Breach – Unless You Can Prove Otherwise

Baker Donelson on

Ransomware is the fastest growing malware threat in the United States, targeting simple home computers to elaborate corporate IT networks. The Federal Bureau of Investigation recently reported an increase in ransomware...more

Arnall Golden Gregory LLP

OCR Issues New Guidance on Ransomware and HIPAA

In response to a rising number of ransomware attacks on healthcare systems, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Civil Rights (OCR) has issued new ransomware guidance on the HIPAA obligations of...more

Cozen O'Connor

OCR Announces New HIPAA Guidance on Ransomware

Cozen O'Connor on

In response to the increasing prevalence of ransomware cyber-attacks by hackers on electronic health information systems in hospitals and medical practices, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil...more

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP

Department of Health and Human Services Cracks Down on Vendor Oversight in Recent Hospital Settlements

From the rise in ransomware attacks to inadvertent disclosure of information by subcontractors, the health services industry is reminded that a potential consequence of a data breach is the threat of a regulatory enforcement...more

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