Personal data of 4M patients at risk after Advocate burglary

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-advocate-health-break-in-20130823,0,3858565.story

By Peter Frost and Julie Wernau
Tribune reporters
August 23, 2013

Personal information for more than 4 million patients of Advocate Medical 
Group may be at risk after four computers were stolen in a July 15 
burglary of an administrative building in Park Ridge, Advocate said 
Friday.

The information includes names, addresses, Social Security numbers and 
dates of birth, but no medical records or personal financial information, 
of patients seen by doctors affiliated with the medical group from the 
early 1990s through July, said Kelly Jo Golson, senior vice president and 
chief marketing officer at Downers Grove-based Advocate Health Care.

Advocate on Friday afternoon began sending letters to the patients 
affected, a process that will continue through Sept. 9, Golson said. 
Advocate is offering a free year of credit monitoring services to those 
whose information may have been exposed.

Advocate Medical Group is the region’s largest physician group with more 
than 1,000 doctors and 200 locations, mostly in and around Chicagoland and 
Central Illinois. It is part of Advocate Health Care, the region’s largest 
hospital chain with 12 hospitals, including Advocate Christ Hospital in 
Oak Lawn and Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge. Only 
patients of the medical group were affected, Golson said.

While the desktop computers were password protected, they were not 
encrypted, Golson said.

[...]

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