Sharp HealthCare, a San Diego-based healthcare services provider, has recently informed its patients that some of their data was compromised in a data breach. The company, which has 19,000 employees and works with 2,700 affiliated physicians, operates multiple hospitals and facilities in San Diego County. The breach occurred on January 12, when an unauthorized party gained access to a server running the Sharp.com website. During this time, the attackers accessed a file containing patient information, such as names, payment amounts, Sharp identification numbers and/or invoice numbers, and which Sharp facilities received the payments. However, no payment card data, Social Security numbers, contact information, health insurance details, birth dates, clinical information, or details about received services were accessed. Additionally, the incident did not involve any unauthorized access to Sharp's medical record systems or the FollowMyHealth patient portal. The incident only impacted Sharp patients who used the online bill payment service between August 12, 2021, and January 12, 2023, and it is estimated that around 63,000 individuals were affected. Sharp has stated that there is no indication that anyone's information has been misused, but as a precaution, they are sending out notification letters to those whose information was involved in the incident. Stolen personal and medical information is often shared or traded on underground hacker forums and later used by cybercriminals in phishing and other types of cyberattacks.
This Cyber News was published on www.securityweek.com. Publication date: Wed, 08 Feb 2023 12:03:03 +0000