UnHack with Drex DeFord

August 4, 2025: Colin Banas , MD, CMO of DrFirst , joins Bill for the news. With recent legislation expanding telehealth coverage before deductibles are applied, they examine how healthcare delivery boundaries are dissolving and what this means for the future of patient care. Drawing on fresh insights from the AMDIS conference, the conversation shifts to AI implementation done right, examining Och...

Drex covers three critical cybersecurity threats impacting healthcare and beyond: North Korean operatives using deepfakes and stolen identities to infiltrate US companies as remote workers, the Allianz life insurance breach affecting 1.4 million customers through social engineering attacks, and the TTEA dating app's massive data exposure that compromised women's safety information. Essential insig...

July 28, 2025: Jacob Hansen , Chief Product and Technology Officer at AvaSure , examines how healthcare is shifting from siloed departments to cross-functional journey teams. How are these collaborative approaches finally breaking through traditional barriers that have slowed healthcare innovation? The conversation explores the emerging world of agentic AI while grappling with where automation enh...

This week's cybersecurity roundup covers three critical healthcare security developments. Microsoft patched an actively exploited SharePoint zero-day vulnerability (CVE-2024-38023) that allows attackers with basic permissions to execute remote code and pivot through networks. Two major dermatology practice breaches - Mount Laurel Dermatology and Anne Arundel Dermatology - exposed over 1.9 million...

This episode explores AI-generated music and cybersecurity through the story of The Velvet Sundown, a completely synthetic band that fooled millions on Spotify. Drex examines how AI-generated music, voices, and images can deceive audiences, YouTube's new monetization policies for AI content, and the growing challenge of distinguishing authentic from synthetic media. Remember, Stay a Little Paranoi...

July 21, 2025: Josh Tacey , Enterprise Architect at Omnissa , joins Bill for the news. They discuss all things HIPAA security-related as the refinement process continues to advance. The conversation centers on the controversial 72-hour business continuity requirement—can health systems really restore operations within three days when current ransomware recoveries take weeks? Josh explores whether...

In this episode, Drex covers three critical healthcare cybersecurity developments. Cyber attackers are shifting focus from hospitals to smaller physician practices and specialty groups that lack robust defenses, with attacks now directly targeting EHRs and patient portals at the point of care. The May 2025 breach report shows 45 healthcare providers reported breaches in a single month, primarily t...

July 14, 2025: Kevin Day , CTO at Rhapsody , joins Drex for the news. While 96% of healthcare executives say they're ready for digital health solutions, two-thirds still battle interoperability challenges that create real patient care problems. Kevin and Drex bring up an alarming trend: 28 healthcare breaches affecting over 5 million people in June 2025, with attack vectors evolving from phishing...

Drex covers three major cybersecurity developments impacting healthcare: the expanding North Korean remote worker infiltration scheme targeting US companies with stolen identities and deepfakes, a cyberattack on medical device manufacturer Monic that disrupted critical supply chains, and the suspicious shutdown of Hunter's International ransomware group offering free decryption tools. Essential in...

July 7, 2025: Mick Coady , CTO at Armis , joins Drex for the news. This episode examines a sobering milestone: the first confirmed patient death directly attributed to a ransomware attack on London's blood distribution system. The conversation explores how a single cyber incident creates cascading effects across entire healthcare networks, flooding neighboring hospitals with redirected patients an...

Drex covers three critical cybersecurity developments: Expo's groundbreaking AI-powered penetration testing system dominates HackerOne with over 1,000 vulnerabilities found, Microsoft redesigns the iconic Blue Screen of Death after 40 years, and the Scattered Spider ransomware group pivots from insurance to airline industry attacks using advanced social engineering and deepfakes. Remember, Stay a...

June 30, 2025: George Pappas , CEO of Intraprise Health by Health Catalyst, joins Drex for the news. They discuss a new H-ISAC white paper and the North Korean catfish issues, speculating on how you can verify identity in a world of AI. Can AI solve the very problems it creates? The most revealing discussion centers on a startling industry survey: nearly half of security leaders now spend more tim...

Drex covers three critical cybersecurity developments: Scattered Spider's shift to targeting insurance companies including Erie Insurance, Philadelphia Insurance, and Aflac using advanced social engineering tactics; escalating Iran-related cyber threats to US critical infrastructure amid Middle East tensions; and a massive dark web leak exposing 1.6 billion login credentials. Don't miss these acti...

June 23, 2025: Samme Diaz , Vice President of Advisory Services at Healthlink Advisors , joins Sarah for the news. How can healthcare organizations address the persistent challenge of EHR-driven nurse burnout when clunky interfaces and poor workflow integration continue to hinder their progress? And as Emory Healthcare pioneers the nation's first Apple-powered hospital environment, what possibilit...

June 20, 2025: Drex dives deep into a chilling case study of AI-powered financial fraud. Learn how cybercriminals used deepfake technology to steal $5 million through a fake CEO video call, and discover why 90% of internet content could be AI-generated by 2026. Learn what to look for and where the threats are evolving in this episode of UnFake. NotebookLM podcast sourced from Eric O’Neill | Speake...

Drex breaks down three critical cybersecurity developments healthcare organizations need to monitor. First, escalating geopolitical tensions suggest increased cyber attacks from Iran and allied nations targeting U.S. critical infrastructure, including healthcare systems. Second, Vanderbilt University Medical Center reports sophisticated Microsoft Teams impersonation attacks where scammers pose as...

After a HIMSS conference presentation on North Korean hackers posing as remote employees led him down an unexpected rabbit hole, Drex unveils his new intermittent series "UnFake". Dive into a world of digital deception and synthetic media, as Drex sets out to help you the listener stay protected and discern fact from fiction in the increasingly complicated field of cybersecurity. You've Been Catfi...

June 16, 2025: Philipp von Gilsa , CEO of Kontakt.io , joins Bill Russell for the news. What happens when America's hospitals reach dangerous occupancy thresholds that could make them unable to function properly? And as workplace violence against healthcare workers spikes, what combination of technology and process can effectively protect staff? The conversation delves into the tension between tec...

Drex covers three critical cybersecurity incidents: dual cyber attacks affecting healthcare systems in Lewiston, Maine; an AT&T database breach exposing 86 million records with decrypted sensitive data; and concerning backup management issues at login.gov that could impact government service access. The episode concludes with a practical reminder to test backup systems regularly. Remember, Sta...

June 9, 2025: Healthcare organizations face an unprecedented challenge as potential Medicaid cuts threaten heavy IT staff reductions, but what if the real solution lies hidden in plain sight within their own systems? Jason Rose , CEO of Clearsense , discusses how "zombie applications" - applications that are neither fully alive nor completely dead - are silently draining millions from healthcare b...

Drex covers four major healthcare cybersecurity developments: Kettering Health's Epic systems recovery following their May 20th cyber attack, with core components now operational while inbound calling systems remain down. Covenant Health faces a new cybersecurity incident affecting three hospitals in Maine and New Hampshire. Seattle's Fred Hutch Cancer Center agreed to a $52 million class action s...

Drex covers Kettering Health's week-long cyber attack recovery with radiation oncology back online, the mass exodus of CISA leadership amid federal downsizing, and the growing frustration over lack of comprehensive federal cybersecurity strategy for healthcare. Discussion includes regional coordination during cyber incidents and the reality that hospitals are fighting nation-state actors without a...

June 2, 2025: Chris Jenkins , EVP of Digital Strategy and Enterprise Imaging for Healthlink Advisors , joins Bill for the news. As the industry appears to shift focus from cybersecurity to AI adoption, they explore whether this transition is happening too quickly. Then, what does it mean when four major health systems make strategic investments in companies like Rad AI? The conversation also cover...

Drex explores two critical cybersecurity threats facing healthcare: the rise of "vibe coding" where non-programmers use AI like Anthropic's Claude to create functional code, creating potential operational risks from undocumented projects, and increasingly sophisticated AI deepfakes from tools like Google's VO3 that cybercriminals are weaponizing for phishing attacks. He emphasizes the need for hea...

May 26, 2025: Ryan Pfeffer , Head of Engineering at Notable , joins Sarah for the news. How are healthcare CIOs navigating the overwhelming influx of AI vendors in a market projected to exceed $500 billion by 2032? The conversation explores the practical challenges of integration, testing processes, and the importance of transparent, explainable features. How is natural language processing transfo...