HHS OCR breach portal (HIPAA breaches affecting 500 or more individuals) Primary notice
Posted on the HHS Office for Civil Rights breach portal with a submission date of June 2, 2023.
- Organization as reported
- Elgon Information Systems, MA
- Entity type as reported
- Business Associate
- Category as reported
Hacking/IT Incident
- Location of information as reported
- Network Server
- Submission date
- June 2, 2023
- Observed by BreachRecords
- 2026-10-18 16:15 UTC (revision 10681, row:1820)
- Archived copy
- Held in the private archive (provenance)
Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced an $80,000 settlement with Elgon Information Systems (Elgon), a Massachusetts company that provides electronic medical record and billing support services to covered entities, under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Security Rule. OCR enforces the HIPAA Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification Rules, which set forth the requirements that covered entities (health plans, health care clearinghouses, and most health care providers), and business associates must follow to protect the privacy and security of protected health information (PHI). The HIPAA Security Rule establishes national standards to protect and secure our health care system by requiring administrative, physical, and technical safeguards to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and security of electronic PHI (ePHI). The settlement resolves an investigation concerning a ransomware attack on Elgon’s information system. “A HIPAA compliant risk analysis is not only required under the law, but is also an essential step in effective cybersecurity,” said OCR Director Melanie Fontes Rainer. “The best defense to cyberattacks, such as hacking and ransomware, is ensuring that potential risks and vulnerabilities to electronic protected health information have been assessed.” Ransomware and hacking are the primary cyberthreats in health care. Ransomware is a type of malware (malicious software) designed to deny access to a user’s data, usually by encrypting the data with a key known only to the hacker who deployed the malware, until a ransom is paid. Since 2018, there has been a 264% increase in large breaches reported to OCR involving ransomware attacks. The settlement also marks the second enforcement action in OCR's Risk Analysis Initiative. This enforcement initiative was created to focus select investigations on compliance with the HIPAA Security Rule Risk Analysis…