DataBreaches.Net

Menu
  • About
  • Breach Notification Laws
  • Privacy Policy
  • Transparency Report
Menu

NM: Dr. Zachary E. Adkins DDS, LLC notifies patients of stolen hard drive

Posted on January 25, 2018 by Dissent

Dr. Zachary E. Adkins DDS (“Dr. Adkins”) of Albuquerque New Mexico has advised its patients of a privacy event that may have compromised certain personal information. The events are the result of criminal activity.

On November 30, 2017, a laptop bag containing an external hard drive from Dr. Adkins’ office was stolen. The hard drive contained backup files from two programs used in his office – Florida Probe and Dentrix. The files in the Florida Probe backup were unencrypted, but contained only limited information of patient names and corresponding teeth pocket depth measurements that are used for periodontal exams. The files in the Dentrix backup contained patient names, addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, treatment information, and insurance information. The Dentrix backup is protected within the software through Dentrix’s data-masking techniques that use cryptographic technology. It would be accessible only to someone who had the Dentrix software along with Dr. Adkins’s unique software serial number and Dr. Adkins’s Dentrix username and password. No financial information, bank account information, or credit card numbers are kept on file by Dr. Adkins, so none of that information has not been compromised as a result of this incident.

Since Dr. Adkins has not yet been able to recover the stolen hard drive, he is unable to confirm whether the criminal actually accessed or acquired any patient information. However, out of an abundance of caution, Dr. Adkins has notified all potentially affected individuals about the issue and offered them free identity theft protection services. Dr. Adkins also reported the incident to law enforcement and will continue cooperating with any investigation.

“We take great pride in providing excellent quality dentistry with integrity and compassion. We take patient privacy very seriously, and we are very sorry for any concern or inconvenience this incident has caused or may cause anyone who has been affected,” said Dr. Adkins.

Those who believe they may have been affected by this incident may call Dr. Adkins’s dedicated, toll-free incident response hotline at (800) 310-0268 for more information.

Dr. Adkins is a dental provider located in Albuquerque, New Mexico that provides preventative, rehabilitative, and cosmetic dental services.

Source: Zachary E. Adkins, DDS

Update:  So I wasn’t believing the reassurances about how Dentrix protected the patient data. Specifically, where the dentist claimed:

[The data in Dentrix] would be accessible only to someone who had the Dentrix software along with Dr. Adkins’s unique software serial number and Dr. Adkins’s Dentrix username and password.

So I reached out to Justin Shafer, who has done a lot of research on Dentrix security, including reporting vulnerabilities in their software to the government.  Shafer and I had collaborated on a complaint to the FTC about Schein advertising an early version of Dentrix as providing “encryption.” But even now, this dentist, while not claiming the data “encrypted,” is claiming that you’d need things you reportedly do not need to access the data on the stolen drive.

Shafer explains what he believes is wrong with the dentist’s reassurances in a blog post on his blog.

Related posts:

  • Court dates set in Justin Shafer case
  • Prosecution drops five felony charges against Justin Shafer, accepts plea to one misdemeanor charge
  • Dentrix claims it encrypts their data, but does it?
  • Developing: Justin Shafer arrested, charging with cyberstalking FBI agent’s family
Category: Health DataTheft

Post navigation

← Kansas website exposed state employees’ personal information: report
Former employee of Veterans Affairs indicted for attempted sale of personal info of veterans and employees →

1 thought on “NM: Dr. Zachary E. Adkins DDS, LLC notifies patients of stolen hard drive”

  1. Anonymous says:
    January 26, 2018 at 3:28 am

    Someone wrote a blog post about this:
    http://justinshafer.blogspot.com/2018/01/someone-had-their-hard-drive-stolen.html

Comments are closed.

Now more than ever

"Stand with Ukraine:" above raised hands. The illustration is in blue and yellow, the colors of Ukraine's flag.

Search

Browse by Categories

Recent Posts

  • Alert: Scattered Spider has added North American airline and transportation organizations to their target list
  • Northern Light Health patients affected by security incident at Compumedics; 10 healthcare entities affected
  • Privacy commissioner reviewing reported Ontario Health atHome data breach
  • CMS warns Medicare providers of fraud scheme
  • Ex-student charged with wave of cyber attacks on Sydney uni
  • Detaining Hackers Before the Crime? Tamil Nadu’s Supreme Court Approves Preventive Custody for Cyber Offenders
  • Potential Cyberattack Scrambles Columbia University Computer Systems
  • 222,000 customer records allegedly from Manhattan Parking Group leaked
  • Breaches have consequences (sometimes) (1)
  • Kansas City Man Pleads Guilty for Hacking a Non-Profit

No, You Can’t Buy a Post or an Interview

This site does not accept sponsored posts or link-back arrangements. Inquiries about either are ignored.

And despite what some trolls may try to claim: DataBreaches has never accepted even one dime to interview or report on anyone. Nor will DataBreaches ever pay anyone for data or to interview them.

Want to Get Our RSS Feed?

Grab it here:

https://databreaches.net/feed/

RSS Recent Posts on PogoWasRight.org

  • Germany Wants Apple, Google to Remove DeepSeek From Their App Stores
  • Supreme Court upholds Texas law requiring age verification on porn sites
  • Justices nix Medicaid ‘right’ to choose doctor, defunding Planned Parenthood in South Carolina
  • European Commission publishes its plan to enable more effective law enforcement access to data
  • Sacred Secrets: The Biblical Case for Privacy and Data Protection
  • Microsoft’s Departing Privacy Chief Calls for Regulator Outreach
  • Nestle USA Settles Suit Over Job-Application Medical Questions

Have a News Tip?

Email: Tips[at]DataBreaches.net

Signal: +1 516-776-7756

Contact Me

Email: info[at]databreaches.net

Mastodon: Infosec.Exchange/@PogoWasRight

Signal: +1 516-776-7756

DMCA Concern: dmca[at]databreaches.net
© 2009 – 2025 DataBreaches.net and DataBreaches LLC. All rights reserved.