Delta Dental of California is Another Victim in the String of MOVEit Data Breaches
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- By Steven
- Published: Sep 26, 2023
- Last Updated: Sep 27, 2023
Delta Dental of California is a major dental insurance provider throughout one of the largest states in the US. The company is well-known for offering PPO dental insurance policies and other varieties of dental insurance options. The company was founded in 1955 and serves millions of Americans throughout nearly all of the 50 states. All California residents using Delta Dental may have been impacted by a recent data breach that could cause real problems for them.
How Did the Attack Occur?
Like many other data breaches in 2023, Delta Dental of California lost significant data pools because of its reliance on the MOVEit file transfer tool. By relying on that tool, Delta Dental unknowingly made vast amounts of patient data available to be stolen. Between May and June of 2023, hackers were able to get into all the files connected to Delta Dental of California's storage connected to MOVEit and copy all the files. The attackers then demanded a ransom to get the information back. Delta Dental refused to pay the ransom, and all the data stolen became vulnerable to misuse in many different ways.
What Information Was Viewed or Stolen?
Delta Dental does not specify exactly what data was taken in the recent breaches in its notification letter. The company does suggest that personal and medical data could have been taken, though. It's likely Social Security numbers, home addresses, full names, phone numbers, birth dates, and more were taken from the patients affected. It's also possible that dental records, insurance information, and other health-related data were lost at the same time. We don't know the specifics about the data taken, but it's possible the hackers can use the information for identity theft attacks and to cause trouble in other ways as well, such as phishing attacks.
How Did Delta Dental of California Admit to the Breach?
Delta Dental of California filed a notice of data breach document with the US Department of Health and Human Services to notify the US government that so many patients had their information stolen. The notice explains briefly who could be involved and the general types of data that may have been stolen between May and June of 2023.
What Will Become of the Stolen Information?
The data stolen from Delta Dental of California will likely be resold to hackers who will misuse it. The data will be used to aid phishing attacks that attempt to trick users into providing more of their personal information to the hackers. The data could also be used for identity theft, to open fraudulent lines of credit, and to generate wealth for the attackers.
What Should Affected Parties Do in the Aftermath of the Breach?
If you learn your data was taken in this breach, you should immediately check your credit and get identity theft protection. You must be careful to avoid giving away personal information to people you don't trust and avoid suspicious links in your text messages and emails to prevent phishing attacks from being successful. If you do all these things, you should be able to safeguard your data effectively. It's unclear whether Delta Dental will start giving out credit monitoring services to victims or not, but you should receive a notice from the company informing you that your data was lost in the breach.
