Health services provider Kaiser Permanente is notifying roughly 5,100 members living in the Northern California region, mostly in the Bay Area, that their personal information may be at risk after malware was discovered on a server used by the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research.
How many victims? About 5,100.
What type of personal information? First and last names, addresses, dates of birth, ages, genders, race and ethnicities, medical record numbers, lab results associated with research, and responses provided to research-related questions.
What happened? Malware was discovered on a server that stored the data, which is used by the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research.
What was the response? Kaiser took down the affected server and ensured all other servers were unaffected and protected. Appropriate state and federal authorities have been alerted. All impacted individuals are being notified.
Details: Kaiser learned the server was infected with malware on Feb. 12, and believes it may have first been put there in October 2011. The information is related to participation in research studies.
Quote: “We have found no evidence to date that the information on the server or connected to the server was ever actually opened, copied, or used by any unauthorized persons,” Tracy Lieu, director of division research with Kaiser Permanente, said in a statement emailed to SCMagazine.com.
Source: oag.ca.gov, “DOR Incident,” April 3, 2014.
