Jessica Seaman reports:
Morehead Memorial Hospital on Friday said a data breach has potentially exposed patient and employee information.
The hospital said personal data may have been obtained through a phishing attack that affected two employee email accounts. Morehead Memorial did not say how many people were affected by the data breach.
Read more on Triad Business Journal.
Update: Here is Morehead’s press release, which seems to carefully omit telling the public when the phishing incident occurred.
Morehead Memorial Hospital announced today it recently became aware that certain private patient and employee data may have been affected as a result of a phishing attack that affected two employee email accounts. While there is currently no evidence to suggest that any information has been misused, out of an abundance of caution, Morehead Hospital is notifying potentially affected individuals and offering free identity monitoring services.
Upon learning about a potential incident, the hospital’s IT staff cut off access to the affected accounts, issued a network-wide password reset, and engaged top-tier forensic consultants to conduct a full investigation. That investigation eventually determined that some information about certain patients and/or employees was affected, such as health insurance payment summaries, treatment overviews, health plan information and, in a limited number of cases, Social Security Numbers. Morehead Hospital notified the FBI and Homeland Security about this incident and will cooperate in their investigation.
Affected individuals will be notified by written letter on Friday, September 15, 2017. These letters include an explanation of the incident, an offer for one year of free identity monitoring services, and information about additional ways impacted individuals can protect themselves.
To Learn More
Morehead Hospital has added a page to its website where affected individuals can receive additional information about the incident and steps that they can take to help protect themselves. The website address is http://morehead.org/data-incident.
Morehead Hospital has also established a dedicated assistance line for anyone seeking additional information regarding this incident. This assistance line can be reached toll-free at 1-833-202-7408, Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern Time.