Hackers stole the data of 1.4m individuals from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Centres

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso, collectively known as health sciences centres, said that a data security incident impacting their networks earlier this year compromised the sensitive personal information of more than 1.4 million individuals.

 

In a data security incident notice published Wednesday on their websites, the Texas Tech University HSCs said that in September, they identified technical issues that resulted in temporary disruption to some of their systems and applications.

 

The HSCs immediately launched an investigation, with assistance from external cyber security experts, to determine the nature and scope of the incident. They also took steps to secure the affected networks and notified law enforcement about the incident.

 

“The investigation confirmed that a cybersecurity event caused the technology issues, resulting in access to or removal of certain files and folders from the HSCs’ network between September 17 and September 29, 2024,” reads the notice.

 

The compromised data included names, dates of birth, addresses, Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, government-issued identification numbers, financial account information, health insurance information and medical information, including medical records numbers, billing & claims data and diagnosis and treatment information.

 

In a filing with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights, the HSCs said that the data of 650,000 individuals were accessed from the network of Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, whereas 815,000 individuals were identified whose data was accessed from the internal network of Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso.

 

The HSCs have advised all affected individuals to regularly monitor their credit reports, account and benefit statements and report any suspicious activity to law enforcement authorities. They have also offered complimentary identity protection and credit monitoring services to all affected individuals.

 

A relatively new hacker group, going by the name Interlock ransomware, claimed responsibility for the cyber attack on the HSCs and listed them as victims on its data leak site. The group claims to be in possession of 3.2 terabytes of data stolen from the HSC networks and has already leaked 2.1 million files totalling 2.6 terabytes of data.