Alive Hospice discovered unauthorized access in email account of an employee

According to the officials, Alive Hospice discovered unusual activity in an email account of an employee on May 6, 2019. The hospice responded to this incident by firstly changing user password; and then launching investigation with assistance from the third-party forensic investigators, so as to determine the scope and nature of this incident as well as identify what kind of personal information might have been present there in affected emails.

Through the investigation, Alive Hospice determined that a hacker has gained access to that employee's email account in between May 4 and May 6 of this year. While, till now, the investigation has not found any evidence of attempted or actual misuse of data, the hospice determine that the compromised email account contain various personal information which might include name, Social Security number, credit/debit card number, contact information, medical history information, driver's license, date of birth, medical record number, prescription and treatment information, Medicaid/Medicare number, physician information, health insurance information, username/email information and password information.

Alive Hospice started mailing notification letters on July 3 to the individuals along with next-of-kin, as appropriate, whose personal information might have been present there in the compromised email account. These individuals were offered by Alive Hospice access to identity restoration and credit monitoring services for 12 months without any charge. The hospice is also encouraging the individuals to stay vigilant against identity theft and fraud incidents, to review their account statements, as well as to monitor the credit reports along with explanation of the benefits forms for any kind of suspicious activity.

Cyberattacks are occurring more and more in healthcare as well as other industries, so the Alive Hospice officials said they are "constantly monitoring for security concerns and implementing measures to strengthen its system and protect the security of information ".

In a statement, the officials of Alive Hospice said that "while Alive Hospice has stringent security measures in place to protect information, it is taking steps to implement additional safeguards to further protect the security of information ".

Moreover, the hospice has also set-up a fully dedicated assistance line for answering the questions about this incident. The individuals having questions about this incident were asked to call on toll free number 1-800-939-4170 any time in between 8 am to 7 pm Central Time (Monday to Friday).

» SPAMfighter News - 7/26/2019