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Here’s your weekly #databreach news roundup:​

Comstar, Shoprite, Choice Health Insurance, MCG Health, The Allison Inn & Spa, Texas Tech University Health Sciences, Kaiser Permanente, Shields Health Care, and Texas Gulf Bank.

Choice Health Insurance

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Choice Health Insurance reported a data breach after the company discovered that an unauthorized party was offering data obtained from the Choice Health systems for sale on a popular hackers’ website. According to Choice Health, the breach resulted in the full names, Social Security numbers, Medicare information and health insurance information of certain individuals being compromised. On June 8, 2022, Choice Health filed official notice of the breach and sent out data breach letters to all affected parties.

MCG Health

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MCG Health reported a data breach after discovering an unauthorized party obtained certain personal information about affected individuals that matched data stored on MCG’s systems. According to the MCG, the breach resulted in the names, Social Security numbers, medical codes, postal addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses, dates of birth and gender of certain patients and members being compromised. On June 10, 2022, MCG filed official notice of the breach and sent out data breach letters to all affected parties.

The Allison Inn & Spa

One of Oregon’s most prominent luxury destinations has been victimized by an unusual cyberattack, with hackers posting employee information and a ledger of guests online in an apparent attempt to squeeze the hotel and compel it to pay a ransom.

“It’s not a new strategy. It’s just the way they are implementing it that is new … by putting it on the public internet in an easily searchable form,” said Brett Callow, a threat analyst for New Zealand cybersecurity firm Emsisoft. “As far as I’m aware this hasn’t been done before.”

Hackers apparently breached The Allison Inn & Spa in Newberg, demanding that the property negotiate to keep employee and guest records confidential. The cybercriminals claim to have information on 1,500 employees and former employees and 2,500 reservation records from 2022.

Comstar

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A data breach at US ambulance billing service Comstar has potentially exposed sensitive information belonging to medical patients.

The healthcare security incident was discovered on March 26, when Comstar noticed “suspicious activity” related to some servers within its environment.

As a result, information belonging to “certain individuals” was accessed, including names, dates of birth, information regarding medical assessment and medication administration, health insurance information, drivers’ licenses, financial account information, and Social Security numbers.

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

Approximately 1.29 million patients of Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center have been added to the ongoing fallout from the Eye Care Leaders ransomware attack and data theft from December 2021.

ECL is a cloud-based, ophthalmology-specific electronic health record (EHR) and practice management vendor based in North Carolina.

Added to the Department of Health and Human Services breach reporting tool Wednesday night, the massive TTUHSC tally makes it the hardest-hit provider by the ECL breach. A total of 58,642 Precision Eye Care patients and 23,993 Harkins Eye Clinic patients were added to the tally Wednesday, as well.

Shoprite

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The Shoprite Group said on Friday evening it had become aware of a suspected data compromise, including names and ID numbers, which may affect some customers who engaged in money transfers to and within Eswatini and within Namibia and Zambia.

“Affected customers will receive an SMS to the cell number supplied at the time of the transaction. An investigation was immediately launched with forensic experts and other data security professionals to establish the origin, nature, and scope of this incident,” the group said in a statement.

“Additional security measures to protect against further data loss were implemented by amending authentication processes and fraud prevention and detection strategies to protect customer data. Access to affected areas of the network has also been locked down. The data compromise included names and ID numbers, but no financial information or bank account numbers.”

Kaiser Permanente

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The healthcare and personal information of up to 70,000 Kaiser Permanente patients in Washington state may have been exposed following unauthorized access to the US healthcare giant’s email system.

The data breach incident, which took place in early April, potentially exposed patients’ first and last name, medical record number, dates of service, and laboratory test result information of the health plan provider.

Financially sensitive information (Social Security number and credit card numbers) were not exposed by the breach, according to the healthcare provider.

In a breach notice (PDF) issued earlier this month, Kaiser sought to reassure potentially affected members by stating that the security incident was promptly contained.

Shields Health Care

Shields Health Care Group (Shields) suffered a data breach that exposed the data of approximately 2,000,000 people in the United States after hackers breached their network and stole data.

Shields is a Massachusetts-based medical services provider specializing in MRI and PET/CT diagnostic imaging, radiation oncology, and ambulatory surgical services.

According to a data breach notification published on the company’s site, Shield became aware of the cyberattack on March 28, 2022, and hired cybersecurity specialists to determine the scope of the incident.

Texas Gulf Bank

Texas Gulf Bank (“TGB”) confirmed that the company experienced a data breach after an unauthorized party gained access to two employee email accounts on two separate occasions. According to the TGB, the breach resulted in the names, bank account numbers and credit or debit card numbers being compromised. On May 31, 2022, TGB filed an official notice of the breach and sent out data breach letters to all affected parties.