HIPAA Breach Report for September 2024

The HIPAA breach report for September 2024 analyzes protected health information (PHI) breaches affecting 500 or more people, as reported to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in August 2024.

This report covers:

• HIPAA breaches ranked by people affected
• HIPAA breaches ranked by occurrence
• Year-over-year comparison
• Takeaways
• Full data

HIPAA breaches ranked by people affected

Most common breaches by type

• Network server breaches affected the most people in August 2024. 9,366,046 individuals had their data breached.
• Email breaches were the second most common breach, with 307,093 people affected.
• Electronic medical record breaches affected 33,279 people, the third most common breach type.

HIPAA breaches ranked by occurrence

Most common breach types

• Network server was the most common attack vector in May 2024. There were 34 network server breaches.
• Email breaches were the second most common attack vector. There were 13 email breaches.
• Paper/films breaches were the third most common attack vector, with 2 attacks each during the month.

Year-over-year comparison

These charts compare the HIPAA data breach statistics from previous Paubox HIPAA Breach Reports (September 2020, September 2021, September 2022, September 2023) with this month’s report.

HIPAA breaches ranked by people affected

What we observe

• Network server, electronic medical record, and email breaches affected the most people overall across this comparison.
• The number of people affected by email breaches is more than double the previous year.
• There were no Other or Other portable electronic device breaches in August 2024.

HIPAA breaches ranked by occurrence

What we observe

• Network server, email, and paper/films breach types were the most common attack vectors in this comparison.
  
• 34 network server breaches were reported in August 2024, down considerably from the previous year but higher than in previous years.
• The total number of breaches appears to be trending upward over a five-year period.
  

Takeaways

Network Server breaches affected the most people in June 2024. HealthEquity, Inc. had the most significant breach, which affected 4.3 million people. Acadian Ambulance Service, Inc. had the second-largest breach, which affected 2.8 million people.

The yearly comparison shows that network server breaches were the most popular attack vectors for bad actors over the last five August months.

Overall, over 35 million individuals had their data accessed via 228 breaches during the last five Julys.

Full data

Click here to view the HHS’ raw data via Google Sheets.

About the Paubox HIPAA Breach Report

The Paubox HIPAA Breach Report analyzes recent PHI breaches that affected 500 or more individuals, as reported on the HHS Wall of Shame in August 2024.

SEE ALSO: HIPAA Compliant Email: The Definitive Guide

Robust inbound email security is a necessity for businesses today. Keeping your email security strategy updated helps ensure the protection of your network.