As of this morning, more than a dozen rehabilitation hospitals have disclosed a breach with unauthorized access to their systems between January 16 and February 4. The intrusion was discovered on February 1.
The attack resulted in access to patient data that included names and at least one of “addresses, birth dates, medical record numbers, health insurance plan member IDs, claims data, diagnosis and/or prescription information. For some patients, this information may have included their Social Security and/or driver’s license numbers.”
Letters were mailed to patients on March 29. All of the rehabilitation hospitals are part of Ernest Health.
On February 26, LockBit3.0 added Ernest Health to its leak site (as “Earnest Health), but they subsequently removed the listing. They re-listed Ernest Health in March, but DataBreaches could not find the listing on the leak site this morning.
Some of the hospitals’ notifications have been reported in the media over the past few days, such as those by the Rehabilitation Hospital of Northern Arizona, Rehabilitation Hospital of Northwest Ohio, and the Spartanburg Rehabilitation Institute, Midlands Regional Rehabilitation Hospital, and Greenwood Regional Rehabilitation Hospital, all in South Carolina, but other Ernest Health hospitals have also notified the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office of the incident: Denver Regional Rehabilitation Hospital, Lafayette Regional Rehabilitation Hospital, Mountain Valley Regional Rehabilitation Hospital, Northern Colorado Regional Rehabilitation Hospital, Northern Utah Regional Rehabilitation Hospital, Rehabilitation Hospital of Southern California, Rehabilitation Hospital of Southern New Mexico, Rehabilitation Hospital of the Northwest, Summa Rehab Hospital, and Trustpoint Rehabilitation Hospital of Lubbock.
The notification letter sent by all these hospitals makes no mention of whether any data were encrypted by the attacker(s) or of any ransom or extortion demand or threats to leak data. It tells the recipients that their data may have been accessed or acquired and offers them complimentary services and other advice on protecting themselves.
Update 1: Rehabilitation Hospital of Mesquite also notified patients.
Update 2: Northern Idaho Advanced Care Hospital, New Braunfels Regional Rehabilitation Hospital, Advanced Care Hospital of Montana, Advanced Care Hospital of Southern New Mexico, South Texas Rehabilitation Hospital, and Utah Valley Specialty Hospital disclosed the incident to the Montana Attorney General’s Office on March 29, 2024