Breach, Data Security

Data of 50K Michigan residents compromised after website hack

A website hack led to the exposure of sensitive files of tens of thousands of people in Michigan.

How many victims? 50,000.

What type of personal information? Names, birth dates and Social Security numbers.

What happened? Attackers penetrated a server hosting the Michigan Cancer Consortium website, which contained data belonging to the Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH), a state agency that handles Medicaid and public health services.  

What was the response? The data was moved from the compromised server to one managed by MDCH. The state is sending letters to those impacted.

Details: The breached data did not include medical records.

Quote:  “Once we detected that this breach took place, all of the reports were removed from this website and are now only hosted on an MDCH secure server, so there's no way that they can be accessed going forward,” MDCH spokeswoman Angela Minicuci said. “And now, being that the reports have been removed, we've corrected the issue.”

Source: detroit.cbslocal.com, CBS Detroit, “State Health Department Falls Victim to Hackers,” July 2, 2013.

Get daily email updates

SC Media's daily must-read of the most current and pressing daily news

By clicking the Subscribe button below, you agree to SC Media Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.