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Medical Center Barbour Data Breach

Posted on behalf of Arnold Law Firm on October 14, 2024 in Data Breach

NOTICE: If you received a NOTICE OF DATA BREACH letter from Medical Center Barbour, contact the Arnold Law Firm at (916) 777-7777 to discuss your legal options, or submit a confidential Case Evaluation form here.

On August 22, 2024, Medical Center Barbour (“MCB”), filed a notice of data breach with the Office of the Attorney General in Maine. MCB disclosed that on October 29, 2023, it noticed suspicious activity on its computer network. A subsequent investigation, which concluded on July 31, 2024, found that an unauthorized party accessed and exfiltrated sensitive and confidential patients’ Personally Identifiable Information (“PII”) and Protected Health Information (“PHI”).

Recently, MCB has begun mailing notification letters to affected individuals. In the notification, MCB has offered victims of the Data Breach complimentary access to single bureau credit monitoring and proactive fraud assistance for 12 months.

According to MCB’s report to the Attorney General of Maine, approximately 61,014 individuals were impacted by the Data Breach. If you received a data breach notification letter from MCB, it indicates that you were affected by the Data Breach.

Founded in 1930 at Salter Hospital, MCB is a healthcare organization located in Eufaula, Alabama. It provides a comprehensive range of services, including primary, emergency, and surgical care. MCB operates one hospital and two family care clinics in Alabama and employs more than 200 individuals.

WHAT INFORMATION IS INVOLVED?

The type of compromised information varied among individuals and included:

  • Birth dates,
  • Medical Information
  • Health Insurance Information

This information is called your Personally Identifiable Information (“PII”). It tells others about you and is considered part of your identity. Businesses are required to secure this information or risk facing statutory penalties, among other legal penalties. Stolen PII can be used by identity thieves to engage in fraudulent activity using your identity.

Personal medical information (a specific type of PII) is referred to as Protected Health Information (“PHI”). It is protected under both state and federal law. Healthcare providers and other businesses who handle PHI are required to protect that information. Like stolen PII, stolen PHI can be used by identity thieves to engage in fraudulent activity using your identity. Quite often, PII and PHI are used in conjunction by hackers.

The best way to protect yourself after a data breach is to sign up for credit and identity protection services as soon as possible.

NOTICE: If you received a NOTICE OF DATA BREACH letter from Medical Center Barbour, contact the Arnold Law Firm at (916) 777-7777 to discuss your legal options or submit a confidential Case Evaluation form here.