Chinese hackers steal millions of patients' data

Community Health Systems (CHS) announced this week that Chinese hackers stole the personal data of 4.5 million patients. The data included Social Security numbers, addresses, birth dates, and phone numbers but did not include medical data or credit card numbers.

 

According to CHS and its forensic expert, the group responsible for the theft typically uses sophisticated malware to target intellectual property, such as medical device and equipment development data. It is unknown why this patient data was taken.

CHS, which runs 206 hospitals in 29 states, has notified patients and regulatory agencies of the theft, which occurred in April and June, and is working with federal authorities to fix the security problem.

Source: Politico