Community Health Systems Breach

Community Health Systems is a massive healthcare organization with 79 full hospitals as well as a total of 1,000 health sites throughout the United States. The organization handles the health information of millions of patients. The company may have compromised the health and personal information of millions of patients due to a recent breach.

What Was the Breach?

• Social Security Number
• Full Name
• Address
• Health Insurance Information
• Health History

How Did the Breach Occur?

Community Health Systems utilizes a file transfer tool known as GoAnywhere from Fortra. The software is meant to be secure, but a hacker gang known as the Clop ransomware gang is believed to have hacked into the tool and intercepted a huge number of files containing personal information. The organization is known for extorting large companies and is believed to be behind hacking giants like Kroger, Shell, and Qualys, to name a few.

When Did This Breach Occur?

A report of the attack was released on February 10, 2023, so it's assumed that it occurred earlier in the month.

Who Does the Breach Impact?

This Community Health breach impacted patients within the network whose information was being transferred using GoAnywhere. If your information was on that network, it could have been obtained and then stored or sold for malicious use later. Monitoring the dark web for your name or identifying information can help you avoid problems later should this gang try and sell any information that pertains to your identity.

How Many Files Does the Breach Affect?

There was no quantity of files mentioned in the report of the breach. However, Community Health Systems was able to confirm that the PII and MII of a variety of patients, employees, and select other individuals were exposed during the breach.