Infusion Company Amerita Suffers a Data Breach Exposing Countless Patients
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- By Steven
- Published: Sep 14, 2023
- Last Updated: Sep 14, 2023
Amerita and Pharmerica are medical companies that offer services to nursing facilities, hospitals, individuals, and seniors. These companies specialize in infusion treatments but also provide additional medical services. The companies were recently the target of a data breach that resulted in serious data losses for some of their patients. This is a major issue worth exploring, and, another example of medical information being vulnerable to attack.
How Did the Attack Occur?
We don't know how the attacker was able to invade the company's file systems. Still, we know that one or more unnamed individuals were able to infiltrate Amerita's file systems and gain access to personal and health-related information. The data breach occurred between March 12 and 13, 2023. Shortly after the breach occurred, Amerita noticed the suspicious activity and began a formal investigation. During that investigation, it became obvious the network was breached, and that confidential patient information was lost in the attack.
What Information Was Viewed or Stolen?
During the official investigation to discover what data may have been lost in the Amerita breach, it was determined that full patient names, medical history, medications, diagnosis, health insurance data as well as home addresses were lost. The company does not believe any Social Security numbers or financial information were taken from the patients involved. There is still enough information lost for patients to have a reason to be concerned about this breach, though.
How Did Amerita Admit to the Breach?
Amerita made an unofficial announcement and answered questions about the breach. We expect the company to send out individual notices to everyone involved, but we aren't sure if enough protected information was involved for that to be a requirement. If you work with Amerita, you can likely just assume your data was involved in the breach and take steps to protect yourself from any potential fallout from having your information shared.
What Will Become of the Stolen Information?
The stolen data may be resold and will likely be used in phishing attacks. The hackers will use the personal information available in the breach to try and persuade Amerita patients to provide them with even more information. By sharing little bits of personal information with the patients, the hackers will attempt to create official-looking password requests or information requests that patients will be likely to answer. The trick to remaining safe is to avoid giving away any information to them.
What Should Affected Parties Do in the Aftermath of the Breach?
There weren't enough information losses to create a risk for identity theft attacks from this breach, but phishing attacks are likely. To safeguard yourself against phishing attempts, be careful to avoid giving away information via email, text message, or over the phone. Anyone requesting secure information like that must prove they are an organization that can be trusted. Don't visit any links provided through your email that request passwords or other confidential information, and you can avoid having additional data stolen. Along with being careful to avoid giving away information, you can invest in credit monitoring services to monitor your information and watch your financial accounts for unexpected changes just to be safe.
