Hackers Steal Health Data of 1 Million Americans

A Connecticut healthcare provider has confirmed that a hacker has accessed sensitive data on more than 1 million patients.

Cyberattacks on healthcare providers in the United States have increased in recent years, according to Newsweek.

According to a report released on January 21 by a cybersecurity solutions specialist, 84% of organizations in the healthcare sector have reported a cyberattack on their infrastructure in the past 12 months. A breach of healthcare provider data can cause significant concerns among the public and various stakeholders due to the sensitivity of health information.

Connecticut healthcare provider CHC, which serves more than 145,000 Connecticut residents, confirmed in a message to patients that on January 2 they noticed “unusual activity on our computer systems.”

“Experts were brought in to investigate the issue and it was determined that a sophisticated criminal hacker had accessed the system and taken some data, which may include your personal information,” CHC added in its letter.

Personal information that the hacker may have accessed or taken includes the patient’s name, date of birth, address, phone number, email, diagnoses, treatment details, test results, Social Security number, and health insurance information. It is believed that the hacker’s access was blocked within hours, and that there is currently no threat to the provider’s data systems.