Manchester Ophthalmology in Connecticut has suffered a cyberattack in which the hackers may have gained access to patient data. The eye care supplier became aware of the cyberattack on November 25, 2019 when employees identified suspicious activity on the network. Assisted by an external technology firm, it was determined later that day that hackers had gained access to its systems and tried to deploy ransomware. Access was first obtained to the network on November 22, 2019 and continued until November 25. Remote access was rapidly blocked to prevent further encryption.
The investigation found no proof to indicate any patient information was accessed or downloaded by the hackers, but during the investigation it was determined that certain patient information had not been backed up and could not be restored. The range of data lost included names, patient-created medical histories, and details of the care those patients received at Manchester Ophthalmology.
Patients have been warned to exercise caution and monitor their accounts and explanation of benefits statements for any indication of fraudulent use of their information. Manchester Ophthalmology has supplied extra training to employees to ensure the proper backup of all information.
The breach report sent to the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights indicates up to 6,846 patients were impacted by the security breach.
UnitedHealthcare Contacts Patients About 2019 Data Breach
On January 31, 2020, the Minnetonka, MN health insurer, UnitedHealthcare, revealed it was the victim of a data breach in 2019 in which the private data of some of its customers in South Carolina was potentially impacted.
UnitedHealthcare was alerted about the data breach on December 10, 2019 and determined that between July 30, 2019 and Nov 13, 2019 an unauthorized person obtained access to the health information of certain members through its member portal. Only members’ first and last names, health plan data, and medical claims data was compromised.
UnitedHealthcare said it is helping with the law enforcement investigation and measures have been taken to prevent additional breaches of this nature in the future. The HHS’ Office for Civil Rights Breach portal indicates 934 individuals were impacted by the breach.