The Charles George VA Medical Center Suffered a Breach Exposing 1500+ Veterans

  • By Steven
  • Published: Jul 10, 2023
  • Last Updated: Jul 11, 2023

The Charles George VA Medical Data Breach

The Charles George VA Medical Center is a large facility located in Asheville, North Carolina. The center offers healthcare services to veterans, starting with primary care and telemedicine and moving on to specialized care. Most specialty services are available at the facility, including endocrinology, dermatology, dental, cancer care, hematology, neurology, pharmacy, and more. Veterans can go to the facility for most of their healthcare needs. The facility supports veterans in the surrounding North Carolina counties, but the center recently suffered from a data breach that may have put some veterans at risk. 

How Did the Attack Occur?

Three emails containing personal information were sent to veterans that weren't supposed to receive them. We don't have any details about why the emails were sent to the wrong location; we only know that a mistake was made. Two of the three veterans read the email messages containing the information before the emails were recalled by the secure messaging platform. These messages could put more than 1,500+ Charles George VA Medical Center veterans at risk for identity theft and other credit-related issues. While we don't suspect the veterans will misuse the information, they could use the data for whatever they like. These emails were the only mistaken messages sent as part of this breach, but a large number of veterans were put at risk anyway. 

What Information Was Viewed or Stolen?

We don't have any specific details about what information was exposed in this breach. We expect the data was full names, phone numbers, Social Security numbers, email addresses, home addresses, and other personal details. This information could be used for identity theft attacks, but credit monitoring services are available to help mitigate the risks caused by this breach. 

How Did Charles George VA Medical Center Admit to the Breach?

The medical center released a press release explaining that there had been a data breach and telling what information was at risk because of it. The press release was dated July 7, and it explains that 1,541 veterans have information involved in this breach and they are at risk of being exposed and attacked. 

What Will Become of the Stolen Information?

We assume that the stolen information is already recovered and that the two veterans that looked at the email haven't misused the data, but there is no guarantee that's true. The veterans could have made copies of the files, and they could misuse the information. If your data was involved in this breach, you should recognize that your information is at risk and that your accounts could be breached. 

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

If your data was exposed in this breach, you should utilize the free credit monitoring services provided by the medical facility. Even if your information isn't misused in this breach, the services will help protect you from any future breaches as well. Use credit monitoring to watch over your accounts and reach out to any financial accounts or your credit accounts if any strange changes occur.

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