A phishing e-mail is an attempt by a hacker to entice a person to divulge personal information to gain access to a banking, e-mail, or other protected account. Hackers are becoming very sophisticated in this area, often sending e-mails that appear to be from a person or organization that you recognize or do business with. TechRepublic published an excellent article last year with tips on recognizing phishing e-mails. Click here to read the article.
At the end of November 2016, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) released a warning about a phishing e-mail sent to covered entities that appeared to come from the OCR with regard to HIPAA audits. To read the warning, click here. (Scroll down the page.)