Health Information Management

Security researcher accesses patient medical information over the Internet

HIPAA Weekly Advisor, December 3, 2007

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According to the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, an anonymous security researcher accessed medical information for an unknown number of Canadian patients through remote access over the Internet, according to a November 27 article by VNU.

The researcher accessed the patient information when a government consultant worked on an unsecured Internet connection from home, where the government computer holding the data was located, according to the article. The exposed patient information included Medical Care Plan numbers, ages, genders, physicians' names, and test results for diseases such as HIV and hepatitis.

"Now that the Canadians have admitted to this dreadful breach of private information, that lack of security in the public sector is clearly endemic right across the globe," UK security firm Cyber-Ark director Calum Macleod told VNU.

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