Dive Brief:
- The cyberattack occurred in November 2014 when hackers called the Guardians of Peace stole 100 terabytes of Sony data. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, medical data of 30,000 people was compromised in the hack.
- Attorneys for the former employees who sued Sony said the parties involved have come to an agreement on the proposed settlement. Daniel C. Girard, the plaintiffs' attorney, said: "We believe the interests of class members will be best served if the proposed settlement is submitted for court approval."
- According to Healthcare IT News, the settlement could serve as a precedent for organizations and corporations after a HIPAA breach.
Dive Insight:
According to a previous article in Healthcare Dive, data breaches ring up $5.6 billion in costs per year to the healthcare industry. Several healthcare associations have stepped up to take proactive measures to ensure the security of healthcare data.
The Health Information Trust Alliance (HITRUST) formed a working group of healthcare execs IT professionals in January to study cybersecurity and establish a standard baseline for the industry to follow. The viewpoint piece in Healthcare Dive suggested the HITRUST focus their efforts on three main areas: educating patients about preventing health IT breaches, better employer standards regarding employee privacy, and to address the potential vulnerability of system interoperability.