The West Virginia University Health System (WVUHS) contains multiple institution locations, hospitals, and clinics. Welltok is a communications platform that allows patients and physicians to speak while encouraging healthy lifestyles. Like thousands of other medical providers, Welltok utilizes a third-party vendor to manage and maintain patient information; this vendor is Progress Software’s MOVEit.
This week, cybercriminals again targeted US medical records and patient identities. The attacks started with a 2.5 million record breach from Kentucky’s Norton Healthcare circuit, including data from pediatric patients. On the other side of the country, cybercriminals also targeted Oregon’s Neuro Center of the Cascades; the attack spilled over 20k records into the hands of criminals.
In the Valley of the Sun, Cardiovascular Consultants Ltd. (CVC) provides clinical, surgical, and consultation services; the Phoenix-based cardio group serves 11 of the region’s hospitals—offering a range of assistance for patients and physicians. In September, cybercriminals attacked CVC. The event may have exposed the information of thousands.
Southern Illinois Healthcare oversees the operations of Harrisburg Medical Center (HMC), a not-for-profit community hospital with over 70 beds and 140 physicians. They are partnered with other clinics in the area, providing a comprehensive healthcare network for residents in the region. HMC suffered a network data breach nearly a year ago.
In Oregon, the Neuromusculoskeletal Center of the Cascades and Cascade Surgicenter collectively are “The Center.” The professionals that work there are highly trained doctors from many fields, including physiatry, occupational medicine, neurosurgical, and orthopedic care. The Center serves central Oregon at three stand-alone clinics and rural treatment at six shared clinics.
Ben E. Keith Company (BEK) is a food and drink distributor that serves over 62 Texas counties and 15 states. They are a service provider for Anheuser-Busch products, providing everything from craft and import drinks to steaks and sugar. In October, BEK announced a possible data breach of their network information, but further details required an investigation. Their investigations have presumably ended, as a notice for the event has recently appeared on the Texas Attorney General’s website.
Norton Healthcare consists of over 430 locations between Kentucky and Indiana. The clinics meet over two million a year, including adult and pediatric patients. The hospital offers one of the largest not-for-profit healthcare systems in the region and employs over 25,000 faculty members. Norton Healthcare is a community powerhouse in the region; this makes their announcement of a data breach all the more disturbing.
This week’s data breaches contained significant impact figures from around the world. Malware on a vendor’s computer inadvertently breached Japan’s Line Messenger. New York’s East River Medical Imaging suffered the loss of employee and patient record information. The Pan-American Life Insurance Group faces a 105k record data breach through MOVEit.
Cybersecurity breaches are at epidemic proportions; in the last two years, cybercriminals have stolen over 2.6 billion consumer records from thousands of organizations. The breaches target more than individuals—they target data from healthcare networks, academic institutions, small businesses, and governments. The attacks come at a destructive cost. Where criminals use personal information for extortion, and the trust of the public is ever-decreasing.
The number of victims caused by the global MOVEit data breach continues to climb; Welltok has announced more exposures, this time from three more health organizations. Welltok is an online provider of lifestyle health services and allows health professionals to communicate quickly with their patients. This most recent announcement involves Elixir RX Solutions from Ohio, OrthoNebraska from Nebraska, and OSF HealthCare System from Illinois.
