In February of 2017, \u00a0Plastic Surgery Associates of South Dakota was hit with a ransomware attack. \u00a0The malware left medical records encrypted, completely unavailable to staff. \u00a0The medical facility reached out to third-party investigators for assistance. \u00a0However, in April, all evidence was lost. \u00a0Therefore, it is unclear if the ransomware attack led to a data breach. \u00a0If patient data was taken, it included:<\/p>\n
If this information was leaked — the hackers have a plethora of data to exploit these patients. \u00a0Not only could they steal their identity, they could rack up fraudulent charges on their credit\/debit cards. \u00a0Hackers could also fraudulently represent insurance companies, claiming additional funds are due for previous medical services, or “bill” for new services.<\/p>\n
Plastic Surgery Associates made the following statement <\/a>to Healthcare IT News,<\/p>\n \u201cThe confidentiality, privacy, and security of our patient information is one of our highest priorities. As part of our ongoing commitment to the security of protected health information in our care, we\u2019re working to implement additional safeguards and security measures to enhance the privacy and security of information on our systems.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n To see a full list of ransomware attacks that have taken place this year, you can click here<\/a>. We have also created a ransomware map, see below, of the ransomware attacks that have taken place in the U.S.<\/p>\nOther Ransomware Attacks<\/h4>\n