Welltok’s MOVEit Breach Continues; Another 2 Million Records Harvested

Welltok provides a multi-use platform allowing institutions and individuals to manage their health and well-being. It is a third-party solution that caters to clinics, health networks, industry leaders, and private clinics. They also offer personalized resources and solutions meant to improve the health and lives of applicable patients. Welltok offers these services to many organizations, including EmblemHealth from New York, OSF HealthCare System from Illinois, and Yale New Haven Health from Connecticut; Welltok reported them in their most recent regulator notice.

How Did the Attack Occur? 

At the end of May 2023, Progress Software announced a zero-day vulnerability within their file transfer tool, MOVEit. Since the announcement, organizations worldwide have opened investigations into their internal networks, databases, and software; thousands of these entities have discovered breached and stolen data stemming from the vulnerability. Welltok is one of these—their data comes from patients and subsequently gets managed by MOVEit and other service vendors. As a result, patients who use providers that involve Welltok may have exposed information due to the MOVEit breach. 

What Information Was Viewed or Stolen? 

EmblemHealth, from New York, New York, suggests the assailants may have stolen patient names, birthdays, health insurance information, treatment information, and provider names. OSF HealthCare System, from Peoria, Illinois, has indicated that the breach may expose patient names, birthdays, Social S3ecurity Numbers, treatment details, provider details, patient ID numbers, health insurance data, and treatment costs. Finally, Yale New Haven Health, from New Haven, Connecticut, believes patient names, patient ID numbers, dates of birth, health insurance data, provider names, treatment costs, and treatment/diagnosis were all exposed. 

How Did Welltok Admit to the Breach? 

According to Welltok’s regulator notice (Wave 8), the unauthorized party accessed the MOVEit system on or around May 30th, 2023, a day before Progress Software’s public announcement. Welltok immediately launched investigations and began sending preliminary notices. The regulator notice states that EmblemHealth, OSF HealthCare, and Yale New Haven Health were all notified of the breach around September 22nd; this prompted further investigations, which concluded on or around November 2nd, October 13th, and October 25th, respectively. Officials began sending notices to impacted parties on or around December 22nd.

What Will Become of the Stolen Information? 

Welltok’s breach has exposed millions of patients and employees in the last few weeks; this specific report involves the data of 1,930,870 individuals—although the total impact figure is exceptionally higher. Additionally, because of the significant breach patterns produced by MOVEit, Welltok’s impact figures may continue to grow. The complete consequences of the global breach (and Welltok’s subsequent reporting numbers) remain unknown. The breach threat actors likely have unique motivations for their deeds, making them unpredictable; consequently, victims of the breach must respond to the threat of exposure immediately. 

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

Although exposures differ between individuals, their process for mitigating data misuse is similar. They must start by first resetting their account passwords, enabling account security features, and altering whatever is changeable. Those who have had medical information stolen must request itemized statements from their providers; if services occur in error, they may have been the victim of medical fraud. Investing in monitoring services is one way to ensure your accounts are safe. They’ll notify you immediately if suspicious activity occurs within your accounts.