One of the leading nonprofit healthcare providers in the US, Kaiser Permanente, has disclosed a data breach that exposed the information of more than 69,000 people.
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Kaiser Permanente, founded in 1945, provides healthcare services to more than 12.5 million members across 8 U.S. states and Washington
According to a company post on its website, on April 5, 2022, an unauthorized attacker gained access to account , which contained protected patient health information (PHI).
“Details of the unauthorized access were provided to affected individuals in a letter sent by Kaiser Permanente on June 3, 2022,” the company states.
Sensitive information exposed by the attack includes:
- The patients' first and last name
- Medical file numbers
- Service dates
- Laboratory test results information
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Kaiser Permanente terminated access “within hours” and began an investigation. While there was no indication that the unauthorized party had access to the protected health information (PHI) contained in the emails , the organization could not rule out the possibility.
" After discovering the incident, we took quick action to terminate unauthorized parties' access to emails the employee's ," Kaiser Permanent added
«The employee received additional training on secure email practices, and we are exploring other steps we can take to ensure that such incidents do not occur again in the future.»
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Although Kaiser Permanente did not disclose the exact number of affected patients in the breach notification, information filed with the Office for Civil Rights of the U.S. shows that this incident resulted in the exposure of the personal data of 69,589 individuals.
