Hackers have my information! Now what?

The drumbeat of news of high-profile data breaches exposing customer information continues. In 2018 alone, there have been reports of hacks at Under Armour, Facebook, Macy’s, universities, and even the power grid. Iowa has not been immune. UnityPoint recently reported that it discovered a massive security breach on May 31, 2018, that could have exposed personal information of up to 1.4 million patients.

According to reports, hackers infiltrated UnityPoint by impersonating high-level executives. It appears that hackers were trying to convince employees to send funds to the hackers, and in the process of doing so obtained access to patient information. This is an increasingly common scheme, and fraudsters have been quite successful at convincing employees to transfer funds overseas. This blog has been covering numerous cases like this all over the country. An added feature to this incident is that the information exposed included not only personal identifying and financial information, but also private medical information protected under federal law.

A question for people affected by the UnityPoint breach is whether this will cause ongoing harm to them. Patient records contain a wealth of sensitive information that patients expect to be protected. Fraudsters are purportedly willing to pay thousands of dollars for access to this information. Patients concerned about the consequences of this data breach should consider consulting with knowledgeable counsel about what has happened to their information.

The material in this blog is not intended, nor should it be construed or relied upon, as legal advice. Please consult with an attorney if specific legal information is needed. 

- John Lande