Third-party vendors remain the healthcare sector’s Achille’s heel, causing the vast majority of the biggest healthcare data breaches of the year and led by the massive Accellion FTA hack.
Following a data breach of the Harvard Business Schoolâs secure file transfer system in December, experts said they foresee ongoing consequences for the systemâs users.
The HBS breach occurred when a third party exploited the secure file transfer system Accellion File Transfer Application and downloaded studentsâ personal information. Other affected institutions using the system included the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, Washingtonâs State Auditor Office, Canadian jet manufacturer Bombardier, and Jones Day Law Firm, which represented Donald J. Trumpâs administration and reelection campaign.
On March 1, Accellion announced that it retained FireEye Mandiant, a cybersecurity forensics firm, to scour the FTA for vulnerabilities by performing penetration testing and reviewing code. Acellion also charged Mandiant with investigating the cyberattacks.