Advocate Aurora Health Breach Affects Millions

Advocate Aurora Health is a Midwest-based non-profit healthcare provider that serves over 3 million people. It has dual headquarters in Downers Grove, Illinois, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and only services the two states. It has more than 70,000 workers and physicians on staff. Unfortunately for Advocate Aurora, most, if not all, of the patients and customers have been affected by the breach. 

How Did the Attack Occur?

Advocate Aurora has not yet released the cause of the data breach. However, it removed all pixels– a software that uses gathered data to find targetted ads– from its website. “These pixels would be very unlikely to result in identity theft or any financial harm, and we have no evidence of misuse or incidents of fraud stemming from this incident,” Advocate says in its statement. 

What Information Was Viewed or Stolen?

The stolen information includes “IP address; dates, times, and/or locations of scheduled appointments; your proximity to an Advocate Aurora Health location; information about your provider; type of appointment or procedure; communications between you and others through MyChart, which may have included your first and last name and your medical record number; information about whether you had insurance; and, if you had a proxy MyChart account, your first name and the first name of your proxy.” Advocate Aurora Health clearly stated that the investigation had revealed no evidence of social security numbers or financial information involved in the data leak.

How Did Advocate Admit to the Breach?

Advocate Aurora admitted to the breach by posting a notification on its website. “Out of an abundance of caution, Advocate Aurora Health has decided to assume that all patients with an Advocate Aurora Health MyChart account (including users of the LiveWell application), as well as any patients who used scheduling widgets on Advocate Aurora Health’s platforms, may have been affected,” the statement read.

What Will Become of the Stolen Information?

With the amount of information, it would be naive to assume nothing would come of the breach. Even though no financial information or social security numbers were affected, this is still a dream for hackers. The hacker has access to addresses; they can easily stalk, harass, or kidnap a victim. They also have names, making it even easier for the hacker to find out more about these people. The hacker could even manage to steal your insurance if they’re skilled enough. They could use your insurance coverage or take your prescriptions.

What Should Affected Parties Do in the Aftermath of the Breach?

In the aftermath of the breach, victims can take many steps to protect themselves. There are certain types of software explicitly made for situations like this. They can scan your device for malware and the like and browse the dark web or other dangerous and unauthorized sites. These scans help to ensure that your information is not somewhere damaging and notifies you if it is. As usual, no system is flawless, but these steps will help you immensely.