Facial and Dental Specialist, Fairfax, Announces Leak; 235,000+ Victims

  • By Steven
  • Published: Oct 18, 2023
  • Last Updated: Nov 23, 2023

Fairfax Announces Leak

Fairfax Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery serves the residents of Northern Virginia and the surrounding region. They employ a ten-person surgery team with six locations. Fairfax has been the target of a data breach, creating over 235,000 potential victims; your information may be at risk if you’ve been a patient of an associated facility. 

How Did the Attack Occur? 

As reported in their website breach notification, an unauthorized party accessed their computer network in May. We don’t have other details beyond the alert from the Attorney General of Maine, which lists the breach as an “external system breach (hacking).” There are no details about how the assault was possible; the threat actors may have leveraged a backend vulnerability, jumped from another network or socially engineered the situation. Although we don’t know much about the attack, Fairfax has said they do not have evidence of files leaving the systems; this doesn’t mean the threat actor doesn’t have the data. Those receiving a breach notification from Fairfax must take immediate action to protect themselves from victimization.

What Information was Viewed or Stolen? 

The information lost varies between individual records. The Main Attorney General reported that assailants may have put 235,931 records at risk following the breach. If the hackers stole your information in the assault, your personal and medical information is at risk. The accessed data included patient names, driver’s licenses, medical histories, health insurance, and Social Security Numbers (SSN). That’s enough information for any opportunist to take advantage of you and the services entitled to you. 

How Did Fairfax Admit to the Breach? 

Between May 15th and 16th, an unauthorized party breached Fairfax’s systems. On May 16th, Fairfax detected the incident following the subsequent encryption of specific files within their system. A month later, on July 11th, they determined the encrypted files contained personal information belonging to specific people. Three days later, on July 14th, they began sending breach notifications to those whose information was accessed. On September 14th, an internal investigation confirmed that the breach may have impacted some individuals; a month later, on October 12th, Fairfax began sending additional notifications to those with expected data risk. If you’ve received a breach notification from Fairfax, act immediately to protect your data from future risk.

What Will Become of the Stolen Information? 

Although Fairfax does not have evidence of the misuse of the stolen information, consumers are encouraged to take protective measures. The credentials taken from each record vary depending on the individual, which puts every record under unique threat. Those who have had their personally identifiable information stolen could be at risk for identity fraud. Simultaneously, those with medical history and health insurance numbers stolen may be at risk for medical fraud. Regardless of your information’s threat, taking active steps to secure it is the best way to limit damages.

What Should Affected Parties Do in the Aftermath of the Breach? 

If hackers accessed your information in the data breach, you could still prevent most misuse. Begin by updating or changing the accessible account details of the associated data. Engage identity monitoring services to watch for misuse of personal information like SSNs and driver’s licenses. Additionally, request an Explanation of Benefits every six months to a year. Take special care to note if the benefits don’t match your record or if there are services listed that you did not obtain. Both are signs you could be a victim of medical fraud. Also, never confirm information about yourself online, over the phone, or with anyone but trusted services.

About the Author
IDStrong Logo

Related Articles

Instagram Vulnerability Allowed Hackers Access to Control Your Phone

Security experts Check Point Research discovered a critical vulnerability while examining Instagra ... Read More

Alien Malware Infects More than 226 Mobile Apps and Steals Bank Data

As reported on September 24, 2020, by ZDNet and ThreatPost, a new strain of malware named “A ... Read More

Universal Health Systems Hit by Ransomware Attack

Universal Health Systems (UHS), a Fortune 500 company owning more than 400 hospitals across the co ... Read More

Exchange Server Bug Exposes a Big Risk to Hackers

Months after Microsoft released a patch to fix a serious flaw in MS Exchange Server, more than 61% ... Read More

Clients’ Bank Data Exposed in Blackbaud Ransomware Attack

Blackbaud software was victim to a ransomware attack last May, and new information suggests that c ... Read More

Latest Articles

What You Need to Know about the Hot Topic Data Breach

What You Need to Know about the Hot Topic Data Breach

Hot Topic plays in the fashion, apparel, and shoe industry as a retailer of music-influenced apparel and accessories, such as jeans, tops, belts, dresses, pajamas, sunglasses, jewelry, and tees.

Google Voice Scams: What They Are and How to Stay Safe

Google Voice Scams: What They Are and How to Stay Safe

Google Voice scams continue to pose a risk for users of this service. Scammers continuously attempt to lure users into divulging their verification PIN code.

What Are Pretexting Attacks: Scam Types and Security Tips?

What Are Pretexting Attacks: Scam Types and Security Tips?

Have you ever received a text from someone you do not know? Did you become alarmed by the message? Did the message contain information about you and the people you know?

Featured Articles

How to Buy a House with Bad Credit

How to Buy a House with Bad Credit

Buying your own home is the American Dream, but it might seem out of reach to those with bad credit. However, the good news is, if your credit is less than perfect, you do still have options and in most cases, can still buy a home.

How Secure Is Your Password? Tips to Improve Your Password Security

How Secure Is Your Password? Tips to Improve Your Password Security

Any good IT article on computers and network security will address the importance of strong, secure passwords. However, the challenge of good passwords is that most people have a hard time remembering them, so they use simple or obvious ones that pose a security risk.

Top 10 Senior Scams and How to Prevent Them

Top 10 Senior Scams and How to Prevent Them

Senior scams are becoming a major epidemic for two reasons. First, seniors often have a lot of money in the bank from a life of working hard and saving.

Notice

By proceeding with this scan, you agree to let IDStrong run a Free Scan of supplied parameters of your personal information and provide free preliminary findings in compliance with our Terms of Use and Privacy Notice. You consent to us using your provided information to complete the Free Scan and compare it against our records and breach databases or sources to provide your Free preliminary findings report.

Rest assured: IDStrong will not share your information with third parties or store your information beyond what is required to perform your scan and share your results.

Free Identity Threat Scan
Instantly Check if Your Personal Information is Exposed
All fields below are required
Please enter first name
Please enter last name
Please enter a city
Please select a state
Please enter an age
Please enter an email address
Close