HIPAA Breach Report for October 2024

The HIPAA breach report for October 2024 analyzes protected health information (PHI) breaches affecting 500 or more people, as reported to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in September 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 September 2024. 4,848,904 individuals had their data breached.
• Email breaches were the second most common breach, with 221,730 people affected.
• Paper/films breaches affected 3,847 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 September 2024. There were 19 network server breaches.
• Email breaches were the second most common attack vector. There were 12 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 (October 2020, October 2021, October 2022, October 2023) with this month’s report.

HIPAA breaches ranked by people affected

What we observe

• Network server, email, and other breaches affected the most people overall across this comparison.
• The number of people affected by email breaches has remained steady over the last three years.
• There were no Laptop, Other, or Other portable electronic device breaches in September 2024.

HIPAA breaches ranked by occurrence

What we observe

• Network server, email, and Electronic medical record breach types were the most common attack vectors in this comparison.
  
• 19 network server breaches were reported in September 2024, down considerably from the previous year.
• The number of Email breaches appears to be holding steady over a five-year period.
  

Takeaways

Network Server breaches affected the most people in September 2024.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services had the most significant breach, which affected 3.1 million people. Young Consulting LLC had the second-largest breach, which affected 954,177 people.

The yearly comparison shows that network server breaches were the most popular attack vectors over the last five September months.

Overall, over 26.5 million individuals had their data accessed via 275 breaches during the last five Septembers.

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 September 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.