Multi-Year data breach is now under investigation at UnityPoint Health-Allen Hospital in Connecticut. From February to April 2016, the cyber hackers gained unauthorized access to the Stamford Podiatry Group systems, including its EHR database. The intruders were able to compromise protected health information such as; patient names, medical history and treatment information, name, social security numbers, dates of birth, gender, marital status, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, names of treating and referring doctors, and insurance coverage information. Although the breach was short-lived, the hack had impacted over 40,000 patients.

On April 14th, 2016, officials were able to identify the hackers involved in the data breach. In response to these attacks, the Vice President of the Stamford Podiatry Group Dr. Rui DeMelo released this statement “We will continue to take appropriate steps to respond to this intrusion and to prevent future intrusions.” The Stamford Podiatry Group is advising all patients to monitor their medical accounts and personal information. In fact, they are offering all patients who were impacted by the breach one year of free credit monitoring services with Equifax Credit Watch. Each person using the will receive regular notifications, 24/7 customer service, credit monitoring services, and insurance against identity.

But despite their efforts for stopping future intrusions, the information exposed during the breach will never be safe. Not only is healthcare data highly sensitive, but it is also treasured in the black market. Unlike a credit card number or other financial information that has a finite lifespan, health records remain with a person forever and can never be replaced. For these reasons, health-rated organizations have become the perfect target for hackers. According to OCR, there were 253 healthcare breaches with a combined loss of over 112 million medical records in 2015. Based on these statistics, experts are predicting that healthcare will remain the top industry for cyberattacks for years to come.

Regardless of the industry, many organizations are struggling to protect critical data. Nonetheless, an organization’s capability of defending against cyberattacks and data breaches depends on their defense strategy. Investing in a strong defense will not only keep sensitive data safe, but it will also provide you with full protection over a network and every critical infrastructure. To learn more about the benefits of cyber security and various solutions that will keep your organization safe from intruders call Threat Vector By The LCO Group.