Georgia based Augusta University Health said that it had suffered a data breach leaking personal data of 417,000 patients, faculty, and students
Georgia based Augusta University Health said that it had suffered a data breach leaking personal data of 417,000 patients, faculty, and students. According to reports, the institute was hit by two cyber attacks after it employees fell for a phishing attack and disclose their login credentials. The breach primarily impacted the patients of Augusta University Health which includes Augusta University Medical Center, Children’s Hospital of Georgia and more than 80 outpatient clinics around the state. The initial attack was discovered on September 11, 2017, one day after the attack began and the company said they immediately disabled the impacted email accounts However, only on July 31st, 2018 the company were able to determine the impact of the attack by an investigation conducted by cybersecurity professionals. The second attack happened on July 11, 2018, and the impact of the second attack is small comparing to the initial attack. The breach exposed Names, addresses, dates of birth, lab test results, diagnoses, medications, surgeries, and health insurance information. Small numbers of driver's license and Social Security numbers were also exposed in the breach. The company said affected customers will be provided credit protection services and till now there are no reports of any misuse of data. As the investigation still ongoing company refused to give more details about the extent of the data breach. “To those whose information was potentially exposed, I offer you my deepest apology and my assurance that we are working diligently to understand how this happened and to do everything we can to reduce the risk of it happening again,” said Brooks A. Keel, president of Augusta University in a statement.
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