NORFOLK, Va. — A security breach of patient accounts may have put your private information at risk. Credit Control Corporation says the hack impacts debt collection accounts for local hospitals and doctor's offices. The agency says it became aware of unusual activity on March 7th, and an investigation started soon after. The discovery revealed certain files were copied from C-C-C's network as part of a cyber-attack that happened between March 2 and March 7.
That network includes Sentara and Riverside Health Systems, Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters, Chesapeake Regional Medical Center, Bayview Physicians, and Pariser Dermatology. Those files contained names, addresses, Social Security numbers, and other account information.
Scott Gibson, the Cybersecurity Program Director for ECPI told 13NewsNow these types of breaches are not uncommon. "Most of the healthcare industry over this past year is up seventeen to 34% on breaches within the U.S." He explained, "There's multiple ways it can actually happen. Most of the time, it's usually older systems and/or user error just for lack of IT training."
The CCC started notifying its business partners on May 4th, and worked with them to notify people whose information was affected.
Gibson says there are steps consumers can take to keep their personal info more secure. "If you contact your credit card carriers, your bank you can set up preventative measures ahead of time so if you do get caught in a breach like this any odd transactions or odd dealings, they can catch it on that end ahead of time so that you actually don't get hit with it and they can decline it until you approve it," said Gibson.
The Credit Control Corporation set up an assistance line at 866-347-3197, Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. ET to 6:30 p.m.