Source: Radio New Zealand
MediMap’s failings will likely be covered by the review into Manage My Health. RNZ/Calvin Samuel
MediMap’s failings will likely be covered by the review into Manage My Health, despite the recent data breach not being included by name.
The prescription portal was now being brought back online, having been down since 22 February, after it was discovered patient information had been changed.
MediMap said it had “rebuilt a secure production environment, completed a forensic review and validation of our data, identified the specific demographic records that were altered, and strengthened authentication controls, supported by independent cyber security specialists”.
All user passwords would be reset and any medication changes made manually during the outage would require clinical review, it said.
It acknowledged the “patience and professionalism” of healthcare staff dealing with manual processes, and apologised to residents, patients, families and healthcare providers for any disruption and distress.
A court injunction had been granted which prohibited anyone from accessing, using, copying, sharing or publishing any of the data.
The MediMap breach followed a hack of the patient portal ManageMyHealth (MMH) in late December, which sparked a review, commissioned by Health Minister Simeon Brown, to be carried out by the Ministry of Health.
The minister’s office said while MediMap would not be explicitly included by name in the review currently underway, the systemic issues which led to it would likely apply to both.
“The Ministry of Health’s review into the Manage My Health (MMH) cyber security incident is considering the broader issue of how private companies secure health data,” a spokesperson said.
A Ministry of Health spokesperson said the aim of the review was to understand the causes of the MMH breach, and the response, and to recommend improvements to ensure data breaches were better prevented in the future.
“While our focus remains on Manage My Health, the learnings will apply more broadly to other digital platforms which manage heath data.”
MediMap has been approached for comment.
On Thursday last week, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said Cabinet had just signed off on a new cyber security policy and strategy.
“It’s entirely appropriate that we look at our whole settings, because we need to make sure we’ve got tougher cyber securities around our critical infrastructure.”
He also sent a strong message to businesses.
“The Kiwi laid-backness in a cyber security world where there are real risks and challenges is not good enough. You need to be investing, and making sure that your systems and your protocols are up to speed, and are actually on-point, and that they continually evolve.”
He said the government would be consulting on the problem over the next few months, and considering incentives and punishments.
Last week, Manage My Health began notifying a further group of patients affected by the December attack.
It did not respond to questions about why these people had not been notified earlier.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
