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HIPAA breach reported in Clinic Network

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HIPAA breach reported in Clinic Network

Cyberattacks on Community Medical Centers of Northern California, a nonprofit network of neighborhood health centers, could have compromised the health information of over 656,000 people.

In addition, a ransomware attack occurring over Labor Day weekend may have compromised the data of thousands of patients at the Las Vegas Cancer Center in Nevada.

According to Jason G. Weiss, an attorney at Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath, the success of these threats will lead to not only their continuous presence, but also their prominence, seriousness, and intrusiveness expanding.

CMC Breach Details

According to a breach notification report it provided to the Maine attorney general's office on Friday, an "external hacking incident" affected 656,047 individuals, including eight people in Maine.

CMC does not mention ransomware in its report or on its website regarding network security incidents.

A CMC spokesman said Tuesday on his website: "Our clinics are still operating, but communications are down."

CMC serves San Joaquin, Solano, and Yolo counties according to its website, and is one of the region's largest safety net providers. In total, CMC operates about twenty clinics.

Largest Breaches

CMC has not been listed on the website listing breaches affecting 500 or more individuals in accordance with the HIPAA Breach Reporting Tool.

According to HHS's website, the incident ranks as the 12th-largest health data breach of the year and removing medical collections from credit report HIPAA.

To date, Wisconsin-based Forefront Dermatology S.C. has reported the largest ransomware-related data breach to the HHS website that affects over 2.4 million individuals.

Data that has been compromised

CMC received notification from the supplier on Oct. 10 that it had taken action after observing unusual activity on its network, which resulted in many systems being proactively shut down.

Upon discovery, CMC says all systems were shut down immediately, and steps were taken to initiate an investigation and assessment. There is evidence suggesting that CMC's network was accessed by an unapproved third party, based on the results of the investigation.

In the statement, it is stated that the compromised information may have included first and last names, mailing addresses, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, and demographic information.

In its statement, the company says it is not aware of any instances of patient information being abused, but it is working hard to prevent it. A free credit monitoring and identity verification service are being offered by CMC to affected individuals for 12 months.

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