Ernest Health faces lawsuit for failing to protect patients' data during January cyber attack

Multiple lawsuits have been filed against Texas-based healthcare provider Ernest Health for failing to protect the confidential health information of close to 100,000 patients during a cyber attack it suffered earlier this year.

 

On February 1, Ernest Health identified a cyber security incident affecting its systems and immediately launched an investigation to understand the nature and scope of the same. The investigation revealed that the threat actors infiltrated its internal network between January 16 and February 4 and accessed sensitive personal and health information of its patients.

 

The compromised data included patients’ names, contact information, dates of birth, health plan IDs, health data, Social Security numbers, and driver’s license numbers. In a filing with the Attorney General of Massachusetts, the healthcare provider added that at least 97,078 individuals were impacted by the data security incident.

 

A class action lawsuit has been filed by Joe Lara and Lauri Cook against Ernest Health in the United States District Court and Northern District of Texas for failing to protect their personal and protected health information during the cyber attack.

 

According to the lawsuit, Ernest Health did not implement sufficient security protocols that compromised the data of its current and former patients. Also, it failed to train its employees on proper cybersecurity measures.

 

The plaintiffs added that the healthcare provider took more than two months to notify them about the data security incident which delayed the mitigation steps that needed to be taken by the affected individuals.

 

On February 26, the infamous Lockbit ransomware group claimed responsibility for the data security attack on Ernest Health and listed the healthcare provider as a victim on its data leak site. It is unclear whether the healthcare provider engaged with the group or paid a ransom to regain access to the stolen information.