A Pennsylvania health system that should have done a better job of protecting its computer data has reportedly agreed to pay $65 million in compensation to cancer patients whose nude photos were hacked and shared online.
“If you protect health data like a crown jewel — as you should — images or photos are going to need another level of compartmentalized protection,” Carter Groome, chief executive of cybersecurity firm First Health Advisory, said Monday following the massive legal settlement, according to CNN.
Last February, Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN), an independent health network based in Pennsylvania, was reportedly targeted in a cyberattack in which hackers allegedly obtained nude images of cancer patients.
In total, the attack affected 15 hospitals and health centers in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, according to the American media.
Except that the health system allegedly refused to pay the ransom demanded by the criminal group, which allegedly carried out its threats by sharing the photos online, causing “embarrassment and humiliation” among the patients who were victims of the attack, according to the lawsuit filed against LVHN.
The latter reportedly agreed this month to pay $65 million in compensation – 80% of which will go directly to victims – making it the largest per-patient compensation settlement for victims of a cyberattack, the law firm representing the plaintiffs, Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky, said, according to CNN.
Cybersecurity experts say the case should sound a wake-up call to other major health care networks that patient records, which are a goldmine for hackers, need to be better protected at the expense of vulnerable patients.
Especially since many patients and healthcare professionals believe the healthcare industry is too slow to improve its data protection, CNN added.
“The privacy of patients, physicians and staff is one of our top priorities, and we continue to strengthen our defenses to prevent incidents in the future,” Lehigh Valley Health Network said in a statement to CNN on Monday.
