Privacy & Security

TORONTO – Canada’s hospitals, airports and police services have returned to normal after a defective CrowdStrike update to computers using Microsoft Windows caused a global technology outage over the weekend. Read More

WINNIPEG – Shared Health is installing an AI-driven, weapon-detection system at the entrance to facilities at Manitoba’s Health Sciences Centre as it moves toward addressing a series of violent incidents at the downtown Winnipeg facilities. Read More

HALIFAX – A class-action lawsuit has been filed against Nova Scotia Health. Nearly 2,700 patients of St. Martha’s hospital in Antigonish had personal health information inappropriately accessed by an employee last year. Wagners Law Firm in Halifax filed the class-action on May 7 in Nova Scotia Supreme Court. Read More

VANCOUVER – A lawsuit against RateMDs has been given the go-ahead by a B.C. Supreme Court judge who found the claim that the website violates the privacy rights of medical professionals is not “bound to fail.” Justice Michael G. Thomas certified the multi-province class-action earlier this month. Read More

WASHINGTON, DC – The Change Healthcare cyberattack that disrupted health care systems across the United States earlier this year started when hackers entered a server that lacked a basic form of security: multifactor authentication. UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty (pictured) said in a U.S. Senate hearing that his company, which owns Change Healthcare, is still trying to understand why the server did not have the additional protection. Read More

HALIFAX – A former employee at St. Martha’s Regional Hospital, in Antigonish, N.S., inappropriately accessed the personal health information of 2,690 people, according to a news release from Nova Scotia Health. The health authority says the person responsible has been terminated and it is in the process of sending letters to those who were affected. Read More

SARNIA, Ont. – Starting this week, five hospital networks impacted by a ransomware attack last October will begin mailing roughly 326,800 letters to patients whose personal information – including roughly 20,000 social insurance numbers – was stolen. The hospitals are all in southwestern Ontario. Read More

TORONTO – A lawsuit pitting a U.S. company against Ontario Health could determine if the province has the right to regulate where personal medical information is stored. The company, Doxy.me, sells a video conferencing platform to health professionals for virtual appointments. The data captured by those appointments is stored in the U.S. Read More

BARRIE, Ont. – A possible ransomware attack has stung a network of local medical clinics in Barrie, affecting several facilities and dozens of doctors. The Barrie and Community Family Health Team (BCFHT), which operates the clinics, confirmed what they are calling a “cyber-security incident” involving their computer network. Read More

VANCOUVER – A Canadian class-action lawsuit accusing a popular fertility tracking app of sending users’ intimate health information – including details about their periods, sex lives and pregnancies – to companies like Facebook without their knowledge has been allowed to go ahead. Read More