HIPAA Breach Report for September 2023

The HIPAA breach report for September 2023 analyzes protected health information (PHI) breaches affecting 500 or more people as reported to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in August 2023.

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 2023. 14,516,294 individuals had their data breached.
• Email breaches were the second most common breach, with 108,199 people affected.
• Other breaches affected 91,611 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 August 2023. There were 47 network server breaches.
• Email breaches were the second most common attack vector. There were 12 email breaches.
• Other breaches were the third most common attack vectors, each garnering 5 attacks during the month.

Year-over-year comparison

These charts compare the HIPAA data breach statistics from previous Paubox HIPAA Breach Reports (September 2019, September 2020, September 2021, September 2022) 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.
• Nearly 4 times more individuals were impacted by breaches in August 2023 compared to August 2022
• The number of people affected by email breaches has steadily decreased across this comparison.

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.
  
• The highest number of network server breaches occurred in August 2023.
  
• The number of laptop breaches has remained low across this comparison, with one or less occurrences in the past four August months.

Takeaways

Network Server breaches affected the most people in August 2023. Colorado Department of Health Care Policy & Financing had the most significant breach that affected 4,091,794 people. Maximus, Inc. had the second-largest breach, which affected 2,781,617 people.

The yearly comparison shows that network server breaches were the most popular attack vectors for bad actors over the last five August months. Over 14 million total individuals had their data accessed via 47 network server breaches during this time.

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 2023.

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.