California Hospital Data Breach Caused by Unauthorized Employee Access

Suffering a data breach is every business owner’s worst nightmare. That’s a recent situation that the California Department of State Hospitals recently found themselves in after an employee data breach had affected more than 2,952 individuals.

Unauthorized Employee Access

The department found that on February 25th, an employee who had access to the data servers as part of their IT job, improperly viewed the private health information of around 1,415 patients and 617 employees. As such, patient and employee data was exposed and this included some names in the breach too. Not only that but COVID-19 test results and information for tracking was also breached.

As a result of this unauthorized employee access, the employee in question was put on administrative leave until the investigation has been finished. It, no doubt, serves as a reminder to those businesses who are very much concerned with the constant threat of data breaches and cyber attacks. They’re also not something that are simply limited to one area of an industry and can become problematic for any company or individual.

So what can businesses do to update their security levels and educate employees to avoid these types of breaches?

Be Aware of Safety and Customer Confidentiality

Teaching your employees is one way of ensuring everyone is on the same page when it comes to keeping your data safe and away from those who might seek to exploit it. Educating your staff might come in the form of training days and additional education on how to handle data properly and safely.

Update Security from On-Site Servers to Remote Working

As businesses change, so do the common methods of working. It’s shown that since the pandemic, a lot of companies have had to adapt to working from home and it’s not something that people may be willing to veer away from going forward to assure enhanced patient care.

Outsource to an IT Company for Assistance

In most cases, security threats are now too advanced for the average business owner to sufficiently guard against them on their own. Many businesses are now looking to outsource their security needs to industry professionals that can provide comprehensive security.

It’s worth outsourcing your IT services because it can end up providing you with the assistance you need in order to keep your business safe. For California businesses, a local trusted IT company in San Francisco can provide safeguards against online threats to prevent unfortunate security breaches.

Be Vigilant And Keep Updated

Even though there are many opportunities for hackers and scammers to infiltrate the vulnerable, they don’t stand much opportunity if you’ve strengthened those weaknesses. With that being said, it’s important to stay vigilant of the dangers that can come with data breaches, and to do all that you can to keep your confidential data safe at all times. 

Keep updated with the latest goings on when it comes to cyber security and be sure to continue educating your employees too in order to strengthen their link within the business. The more you can do from your side, the better and less likely it will be that you fall victim to a breach.