Digital Forensics Dispatch

Ransomware Attack at Florida Healthcare Laboratory

November 23, 2021

Sarah Coble at InfoSecurity-Magazine.com recently reported on a ransomware attack at Nationwide Laboratory Services which may have affected 30,000 or more patients, health information. Nationwide first noticed signs of the incident on its network in May of 2021. After looking into the activity themselves, Nationwide determined a large number of the records had been encrypted. They then hired a third party firm to assist in the forensic investigation and recovery.

In analyzing the affected data, they were able to determine that much of the encrypted data included patient records with PII such as names, dates of birth, Medicare information and health insurance data. Potentially even more concerning were findings that some of the data may have also been deleted and/or stolen from the network. A notice from the company regarding the attack stated that “A limited number of individuals had Social Security numbers also impacted.”

According to a report regarding the attack that was submitted to the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights in late October, approximately 33,400 individuals’ data may have been exposed in the attack. According to Nationwide, all patients whose data was included in the breach were notified and provided guidance on how to best protect themselves moving forward.

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