On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced a $1.25 million settlement with Banner Health over a data breach.
In 2016, the agency’s Office of Civil Rights launched an investigation into the hacking incident, which exposed the health information of nearly 3 million people.
The settlement was linked to violations of HIPAA regulations. Banner Health was accused of failing to analyze threats to digital information and failing to protect against cyber attacks.
Information breached ranged from patient names to Social Security numbers.
Banner will need to follow a corrective action plan under the observation of the Office of Civil Rights. Melanie Fontes Rainer, the office’s director, stressed the importance of protecting people’s health information from cybersecurity attacks.
