Utah Department of Health Hacked- Over181,000 Records & 25,000 SSN Stolen
Friday Utah Department of Health officials confirms that hackers who broke into state computers last weekend stole far more medical records than originally thought, and the data likely includes Social Security numbers of children who have received public assistance. It has been found that 181,604 Medicaid/CHIP recipients have had their personal information stolen & also 25,096 have had their Social Security numbers (SSNs) compromised. The information was stolen from a new server at the Health Department, Weiss said. Although the state has multiple layers of security on every server, a technician installed a password that wasn't as secure as needed. The agency is cooperating with law enforcement in a criminal investigation. The hackers, who are believed to be located in Eastern Europe, breached the server in question on March 30, 2012. DTS had recently moved the claims records to a new server, which had a configuration error at the authentication level, allowing hackers to circumvent the security system. DTS says it shut down the affected server, implemented new security measures, is reviewed every server in the state to ensure proper security measures are in place, identified where the breakdown occurred, and has implemented new processes to ensure this type of breach will not happen again.
“We understand clients are worried about who may have accessed their personal information, and that many of them feel violated by having their information compromised,” UDOH Deputy Director Michael Hales said in a statement. “But we also hope they understand we are doing everything we can to protect them from further harm.” Clients whose information was stolen will be alerted, with the first priority being those whose Social Security numbers were taken, Health Department spokesman Tom Hudachko said. The department is offering free credit monitoring for a year to anyone who information was stolen and has established a hotline for concerned clients to call.
Friday Utah Department of Health officials confirms that hackers who broke into state computers last weekend stole far more medical records than originally thought, and the data likely includes Social Security numbers of children who have received public assistance. It has been found that 181,604 Medicaid/CHIP recipients have had their personal information stolen & also 25,096 have had their Social Security numbers (SSNs) compromised. The information was stolen from a new server at the Health Department, Weiss said. Although the state has multiple layers of security on every server, a technician installed a password that wasn't as secure as needed. The agency is cooperating with law enforcement in a criminal investigation. The hackers, who are believed to be located in Eastern Europe, breached the server in question on March 30, 2012. DTS had recently moved the claims records to a new server, which had a configuration error at the authentication level, allowing hackers to circumvent the security system. DTS says it shut down the affected server, implemented new security measures, is reviewed every server in the state to ensure proper security measures are in place, identified where the breakdown occurred, and has implemented new processes to ensure this type of breach will not happen again.
“We understand clients are worried about who may have accessed their personal information, and that many of them feel violated by having their information compromised,” UDOH Deputy Director Michael Hales said in a statement. “But we also hope they understand we are doing everything we can to protect them from further harm.” Clients whose information was stolen will be alerted, with the first priority being those whose Social Security numbers were taken, Health Department spokesman Tom Hudachko said. The department is offering free credit monitoring for a year to anyone who information was stolen and has established a hotline for concerned clients to call.
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