Ransomware attack on Victoria Eye Centre impacted over 80,000 patients

Texas-based eye care clinic Victoria Eye Centre suffered a significant data security incident that compromised the sensitive personal information of more than 80,000 individuals.

In a recent data breach notice filed with the Office of the Maine Attorney General, Victoria Eye Centre said that on March 21, it became aware of an encryption malware in its internal network that made some of its systems inaccessible. The healthcare provider immediately launched an investigation, with assistance from external cyber security experts, to determine the scope of the incident.

“Through our investigation, we determined that an unknown actor gained access to a limited number of our systems and certain files in those systems were accessed,” reads the notice.

After a comprehensive review of the contents of the affected systems, VEC concluded that the sensitive personal information of its patients were compromised during the incident. The affected data included names, addresses and medical identification numbers. It also revealed in its filing with the state regulator that at least 80,122 individuals were affected by the data breach.

“We took steps to address this incident promptly after it was discovered, including conducting an internal investigation to understand what had taken place and how. We have also reviewed our internal data management and protocols and have implemented enhanced security measures to help prevent this type of incident from recurring,” VEC added.

While VEC found no evidence of the compromised information being misused, it has advised all affected individuals to regularly monitor their credit reports, bank accounts and benefit statements and report any suspicious activity to law enforcement authorities, including the police and the state attorney general.

It has also offered one year of complimentary identity protection and credit monitoring services through IDX to all affected individuals.