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We discuss the St. Mary's Medical Center cyberattack and patient data breach. Our report covers how hospitals are targeted, the importance of data protection, and steps you can take to secure your information. We also provide insights from James E. Lee of the Identity Theft Resource Center. #Cybersecurity #DataBreach #HealthcareHacks #PatientData #OnlineSafety #IdentityTheft #PrivacyMatters #StMarysMedical #Cyberattack #DataProtection
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We're on your side tonight on how to
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protect your data online.
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In May, all computer systems went down
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at St. Mary's Medical Center after a
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cyber attack.
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CBS 13 Sam Dost joins us now live from
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St. Mary's in Lewis. And Sam, we're
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learning patient data was in fact
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compromised there.
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Well, according to a spokesperson with
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Covenant Health that there was a
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unauthorized third party that was able
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to obtain access to hospital patient
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data and experts say that hospitals are
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one of the most targeted businesses.
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across the country for cyber attacks.
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No one thought health data was valuable
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to an identity criminal. Well, in fact,
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it is. It's very valuable.
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The Identity Theft Resource Center
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provides free assistance to identity
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crime victims in the US. President James
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E. Lee says many victims come from hacks
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in healthcare because of how much
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personal data hospitals have. And he
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says they're historically weaker digital
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security systems. The bad guys look for
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those weak links and that's one of the
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reasons why we see the kind of attacks
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we have seen in healthcare.
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The Covenant Health Network has
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hospitals in Lewon, Bangor, as well as
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Nshawa, New Hampshire. Officials say
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addresses, birthdays, medical records,
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social security numbers, and health
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information for patients at each
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location may have been seen by a hacker.
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The breach happened on May 18th, but
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Covenant Health wasn't alert to it until
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the 26th, 8 days later.
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We sent them some follow-up questions,
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including why it took so long to notice
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the attack. They didn't specifically
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answer the question, but did say they
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immediately launched a recovery effort.
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But Lee says it's common for an attack
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to go unnoticed for weeks, months, or
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even more than a year.
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It takes even longer usually to find out
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how it happened. So we often times see a
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big delay between when a cyber attack
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results in a data breach and then when
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that data breach actually results in
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some kind of a notice to the people who
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are impacted by it.
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There are a few ways you can protect
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your data if there's a cyber attack. Lee
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says you can freeze your credit, create
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unique passwords for every account you
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have and ask how the companies you work
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with keep your information secure.
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So it is important we get more
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comfortable asking people what do you do
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to keep us safe? And if you don't like
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the answer, take your business someplace
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else.
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In a statement sent to 13 News, a
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Covenant Health spokesperson said in
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part, quote, "Covenant Health takes the
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security of patient data seriously and
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regrets this incident. We have
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implemented additional administrative
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and technical safeguards to further
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secure our environment and help prevent
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something like this from happening
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again." End quote. It's unclear how many
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patients could have been impacted. That
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was another one of my follow-up
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questions, but Covenant Health says
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they're still investigating how many
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patients could have been impacted. There
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could be more than they already have
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uncovered, and they're working to get
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those answers. Now, if you are a patient
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here at St. Mary's or one of the other
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two hospitals, they are advising you to
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review your health insurance plan
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statements, and if you have any charges
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to services you did not receive, contact
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them immediately. Live in Lewon, Sam
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Dost, CBS 13 News.
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All right, Sam, thank you for the
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information.
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