The protected health information of 1,750 patients of Austin Manual Therapy (AMT) may have been accessed and stolen by a criminal who gained access to the group’s system.
A forensic review by a leading national cybersecurity team showed access was initially gained on October 3, 2017 and went on until October 9, when the intrusion was detected and obstructed. According to the breach notice published on the AMT website, access was not obtained to the company’s electronic medical record database. Only a restricted portion of the network was accessed including a single computer and a shared file system.
While the forensic review showed that access to some files had been obtained, it was not clear how much data was viewed and which, if any, documents had been taken. An analysis of the file system and computer indicated that the following information could have been seen: Names, addresses, dates of birth, phone numbers, dates of service, charge amounts, occupations, insurance coverage and policy details, health screening information, diagnoses, driver’s license data, referring physician information, and partial and full Social Security details.
The breach investigation has largely been finished, although TMD said it is continuing to actively work with forensic investigators and this will likely continue until the end of 2017.
Extra security measures have now been adapted to stop this type of attack from occurring in the future. While the specific nature of the attack was not recorded in the TMD breach report, Databreaches.net has stated that this was an extortion effort by the hacking group TheDarkOverlord.
Individuals affected by the breach have been told that they can obtain free credit reports and activate a fraud alert and security freeze on their accounts, but it would not seem that credit monitoring or identity theft protection services have been offered to those affected.
