Texas Ear, Nose, and Throat Specialists (Texas ENT) has notified more than 500,000 people of a data breach that occurred. The breach likely happened in August of this year, with Texas ENT discovering the incident in October. After investigations were carried out, it was learned that information such as patient names, dates of birth, medical record numbers, procedure codes used for billing purposes, and a small amount of Social Security numbers were accessed. No medical records were accessed, and Texas ENT has notified the US Department of Health and Human Services. Moving forward, they have vowed to improve their security posture and focus on preventing incidents like this one from happening in the future.
Analyst Notes
Individuals who had their Social Security numbers accessed are receiving complimentary identity monitoring services and should take advantage of that. Any suspicious activity noticed by affected parties should be reported. Vigilance is very important following data breaches and those that were included should stay on the lookout.
https://portswigger.net/daily-swig/amp/healthcare-provider-texas-ent-alerts-535-000-patients-to-data-breach
