HTEIK HTAR TIN-What happened in the Community Health Systems data breach

[Hteik Htar Tin]

o Provide a brief description of the story along with the original link to the story.
In August 2014, the personal health information (PHI) of Community Health Systems (CHS) was violated by a cyberattack originating from China. CHS operates 206 hospitals across the United States with medical facilities in 29 states and this attack impacted approximately 4.5 million patients. The Clop ransomware gang deployed high-sophisticated malware, through unauthorized exploitation into Fortra’s GoAnywhere MFT platform. The breached information included names, addresses, birth dates, telephone numbers, Social Security numbers and other personal identification information of patients.
Original link: https://www.twingate.com/blog/tips/community-health-systems-data-breach

o What is/are the impact of this data breach? Consequences of the data breach.
The protected health information of about 1 million people was compromised. And CHS was faced several lawsuits to get claims for violation of data security.

o How did the data breach occur?
There was unauthorized log in to the CHS’s file transfer software, Fortra’s GoAnywhere MFT.

o What should be the main cause of the data breach? Provide a brief explanation of the cause of data breach, such as phishing, ransomware, HIPAA violation, database misconfiguration, human error, third-party vendor error)?
Due to lack of appropriate security measures (confidentiality, integrity and availability) of CHS’s file transfer platform, the attackers can deploy malware into the system through unauthorized access that administrative console has exposed on internet. This data breach violated HIPAA of million people.
o How could you prevent this data breach attack?
Establish the cybersecurity policies and response team
Conduct annual risk assessment and implement the intrusion detection systems, data loss protection measures
Arrange the role-based access control in server to avoid unnecessary access to PHI
Ensure safeguarding on network, software, system, database and user in the system
Provide regular security awareness and privacy training to staffs

[Nang Phyoe Thiri]

Thank you ama for sharing the case and prevention measures to prevent data breach. I think the following measures may also help prevent data breach-
1. Regular audit trails and identify vulnerabilities.
2. Encryption of identifiers information.
3. Centralized logging monitoring for all access activities.

[Wah Wah Lwin]

Hi Heik Htar! Thank you for your interesting case on cyberattack exploiting Fortra’s GoAnywhere MFT, affecting 4.5 million people. In addition to your preventive measures, we may consider implementing strong multifactor-authentication and zero-trust principles, to enforce strict access control and security, as well as simulation exercises to IT team/staff members.

[Salin Sirinam]

I suggest enforcing its policies by limitng third-party access to critical systems, regular motoring unusual activities and software updated. For the account side, MFA can as well help.

[Author]

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