2.5 Million In New England Affected By Health Care Data Breach: Report

CANTON, MA — More than 2.5 million people have been impacted by a health insurer data breach after an April ransomware attack on Point32Health that resulted in system outages for Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, which is based in Canton and serves New England, according to a report in The HIPAA Journal.

In the weeks and months following the attack, the extent to which the information of members, providers, brokers, and accounts had been compromised was unknown.

But according to the Journal, Point32Health shared in an update that the health information of both current and former Harvard Pilgrim Health Care members was likely stolen in the attack, including names, physical addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, health insurance account information, Social Security numbers, provider taxpayer-identification numbers, and clinical information.

Though no reports of misuse of the data had been received as of late May, those who have been affected in the breach are being offered complimentary credit monitoring and identity theft protection services, according to the Journal.

Point32Health said that some systems are still currently offline as Point32Health works with cybersecurity experts. The company added that it is reviewing safety protocols and implementing new security precautions to prevent future attacks, the Journal reported.

Read the full report in The HIPAA Journal.