Valley Mountain Regional Center reveals a security breach, but is patient information still unclear?

Now then, do lend me your ears, won’t you, for an intriguing cybersecurity tale from the world of healthcare. Remember to grab a cuppa – because this one’s a doozy.

Picture this… It’s November 2021, the skies are growing darker earlier and the cold weather’s creeping in. But the folks over at Valley Mountain Regional Center (VMRC) have a tad more on their plates than switching to their cosy winter jumpers, as they’ve been hit with a pesky phishing scheme.

You know how these things work, right? One seemingly innocent click here, a wrongly trusted email there, and before you know it, cyber-criminals have their mitts on a treasure trove of personal health information.

Sadly, in VMRC’s case, they were not dealing with just a drop in the ocean. No siree – they got absolutely walloped, with a staggering 17,197 individuals’ protected health information (PHI) trapped in these online villain’s steely grasp. Gave me quite the shudder, I can tell you.

Now, don’t get me wrong. VMRC aren’t a bunch of numpties. They are pros, so naturally, they knew what to do post-haste. They didn’t faff about, no. They immediately sent word to health authorities, the media, and most importantly, the individuals whose PHI was compromised. They also provided a substitute notice, as you do to mitigate the crisis.

Always one to put a positive spin on things – because let’s face it; these days we could do with one – there’s a silver lining in this cloud. The incident did push VMRC to give a good old thorough review of its cybersecurity measures.

Let me share a dog’s honest truth with you. No matter how good you think your protective measures are, the peskehr little varmints behind these schemes have a knack for finding gaps – call it their evil superpower if you like. That’s what happened to VMRC, in spite of their already robust safeguarding methods.

But, chin up! Good came out of it too. VMRC tightened their security belt a notch or two and strengthened their technical safeguards, making it that much harder for these online pirates to swoop in a second time. Good on them, I say!

Now, there’s a burning question left. Are the patients still in the dark about the whole situation? There’s quite a bit of hoo-ha around that topic, but we’ll have to see how things play out.

Safe to say, it’s a pickle. But, as they say, every dark cloud has a silver lining. So, here’s hoping for less phishing and more secure protection in our healthcare world. For now, do remember to stay safe, both in the real world and the virtual one.

Well, that’s all from me for now – I’ll keep the kettle warm for the next chat. Until then, as we Brits say – keep calm and carry on!

by Parker Bytes