1.2 Million Patients Lose Data to Tampa General Hospital Breach
Table of Contents
- By Steven
- Published: Jul 25, 2023
- Last Updated: Jul 26, 2023
Tampa General Hospital is a mid-sized medical facility that caters to locals in the Tampa area. The hospital has 1,040 beds available and serves as a research and academic center, along with offering tertiary care to its patients. The facility is located in Tampa, Florida, and is an essential hospital for maintaining the care of patients throughout the area. The hospital was recently hacked, exposing more than 1.2 million patients that depend on the facility for medical services.
How Did the Attack Occur?
On May 31, staff at Tampa General Hospital detected an intrusion in the network. After the hackers were detected, it was determined these attackers had been gathering information file transfers on the network for three weeks. All the data gathered could have been copied and backed up in a different location. Approximately 1.2 million patients are believed to be involved in this breach overall. With so many impacted patients, this is a widespread issue that could cause long-lasting damages and lead to serious credit, financial and personal problems for those involved.
What Information Was Viewed or Stolen?
The specific data stolen from Tampa General per patient depends on the individual, but a substantial amount of personal and medical data was taken from most of the individuals involved. Information like first and last names, Social Security numbers, medical record numbers, dates of service, phone numbers, addresses, treatment information, and health insurance data could have been taken in this breach.
How Did Tampa General Admit to the Breach?
Tampa General Hospital first reached out to the FBI to explain the situation and to attain help protecting its network and identifying the attackers. Now the hospital is also planning to send individual letters to everyone compromised in this breach. Along with individual letters explaining the situation, the hospital is also giving free credit monitoring and identity theft services to anyone whose Social Security number was taken in this breach. Tampa General hasn't released an official press release or story about the breach yet, but news outlets are getting the relevant details and putting out pieces of the story to local Tampa residents.
What Will Become of the Stolen Information?
The data was stolen in an effort to collect a ransom from the hospital. Since the facility didn't pay the ransom money, it's likely the data will be resold to other attackers or used in attacks. Phishing attacks via email and text messages are likely, as well as some identity theft attacks resulting in damaged credit for some of the individuals involved.
What Should Affected Parties Do in the Aftermath of the Breach?
If you one of the patients who receive an individual letter from Tampa General Hospital about this data breach, your Social Security number was compromised, and you should immediately act to protect yourself. Claim the credit monitoring and identity theft protection services and use them to watch for any odd activity on your credit. If any strange changes occur, you can contact creditors and request to have your credit frozen temporarily for additional security.
