Reportedly, sensitive personal information of over 5, 00,000 current and former patients have been exposed during a radiology medical practice in Utah. In this age of digital technology, undoubtedly, it is a bigger challenge to reduce the threat to data security. Cybercriminals or unethical hackers are all over cyberspace operating actively to gain unauthorized access to confidential information.
Utah Imaging Associates (UIA), which is a leading radiology practice organization based in Farmington, has made the federal government aware of the data breach. This medical imaging service provider has already started alerting its customers of the data security incident. UIA is currently informing patients about the unwanted breach of radiology medical practice through first-class mail service.
Vulnerability of Sensitive Medical Data
Medical images and data have become vulnerable to leakage since the commencement of the procedure of transferring or exchanging the same electronically. Earlier, these medical images were exchanged between radiology centers or organizations through a CD or different other physical mediums. Indeed, transferring data online is easy, less time-consuming, and hassle-free. However, this latest process puts patients’ sensitive medical information at immense risk.
As per the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Civil Rights, this data security incident has put former and current patients in serious trouble. This aforementioned federal organization has been posting information pertinent to the data breach, which has severely affected more than five hundred individuals.
UIA’s Take on This Data Breach
According to a team of board-certified radiologists, the accepted process of keeping confidential medical data private was so advanced that they didn’t have any knowledge of the possibility of such an attack. UIA has expressed its regrets related to any inconvenience or trouble this particular data breach incident has caused. It has been committedly operating since the breach took place in order to increase information privacy and security, which is in its control.
This reputed organization, which conducts medical imaging practice, learned about the attack on sensitive medical data and images on 4th September. It promptly acted so as to heighten the security of its network and check further attacks. Post the leakage of sensitive information, a leading third-party cybersecurity agency carried out a forensic probe and discovered a few confidential files.
The discovery of the attack has compelled UIA to strengthen the data security to prevent the occurrence of a similar incident in the future. The group of radiologists mentioned that it would start providing free credit tracking and identity theft services to those affected patients.
With each passing day, the number of radiology centers leveraging the trusted sepStream® medical imaging software is increasing. The only reason is that this software solution allows radiology clinics to share sensitive medical images and data with patients hassle-free while maintaining privacy.