Atrium Health says cyber attack compromised the data of 585,000 patients

Charlotte, North Carolina-based healthcare provider Atrium Health said the data security incident it suffered earlier this year compromised the sensitive personal information of more than 585,000 individuals.

 

In a notice of data security incident published on September 13, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Hospital Authority, operating as Atrium Health, said that on April 29, it identified unauthorised access to a limited number of employee email accounts through a phishing attack.

 

Phishing occurs when an email looks like it is from a trustworthy source, but instead is a malicious email designed to mislead the recipient into sharing information or providing access to their account login information.

 

The healthcare provider immediately launched an investigation, with assistance from external cyber security experts, to determine the nature and scope of the incident. It also took necessary steps to secure the affected accounts and terminate the unauthorised access.

 

“Based on the findings from the investigation, it appears the unauthorised party had access to the affected account for a short time between April 29-30,” Atrium Health said.

 

“The forensic examination of the affected accounts was completed July 17, 2024. Not all of Atrium Health’s patients or employees were impacted, only those whose information happened to be in the email and/or files included in the affected employees’ accounts,” it added.

 

The compromised data included names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, medical record numbers, driver’s license or state-issued identification numbers, bank or financial account numbers including routing numbers, bank names, security codes, PINs and expiration dates, treatment, prescription, health insurance details, patient identification numbers, billing identification numbers and more.

 

In a filing with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Atrium Health said that it has identified at least 585,959 individuals who were impacted by the incident.

 

The healthcare provider has offered complimentary credit monitoring and identity protection services to those whose sensitive personal information was compromised during the incident.