NSHA suffers data breach of around 3,000 people

The NSHA is going to notify around 3,000 people regarding a possible privacy breach involving the personal health information, announced the organization on 10th June, 2019.

The health authority said that their IT team had detected the breach on 13th May, 2019, after email account of an employee was compromised as a result of a phishing attack on 8th May, 2019. Karen Hornberger, NSHA director of privacy, said that the employee has received a fraudulent link on her email, and the attacker got access to her email inbox when the employee unknowingly used her username as well as password on that false link.

Hornberger said that breach of information were related to the medical procedures that have been scheduled, planned, or had occurred in Colchester East Hants Health Centre of Truro town in central Nova Scotia, Canada. The NSHA said that 2,841 people as well as their next of kin were being notified.

The NSHA director of privacy has stressed on the point that this is a potential breach. "We have no way of confirming what would have been viewed by the people perpetrating the attack. But there was a... possible exposure of information, and when that happens, we have a duty to inform the public," she said.

Hornberger also added that "we don't believe that it was viewed because typically when people take over someone's email account, it's so that they can use that account as a front to send out spam emails". She said that NSHA want to apologize from all, as this breach has happened.

Hornberger said that Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner has been informed about this possible breach on 13th May, 2019. Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Nova Scotia has confirmed to the Global News that they were notified about this breach. The office said that it will follow up with NSHA about this incident, but hasn't launched any formal investigation yet.

The NSHA says that they will work with privacy commissioner in order to implement the recommendations that can be provided in light of this breach. Hornberger said that "we're going to continue to educate our employees and other folks who have an NSHA email account regarding these sort of attacks and how to spot them and avoid them".

» SPAMfighter News - 6/28/2019