NJ Hospital Record Breach Exposes Patient’s Sensitive Data

NEW JERSEY - Patients of a South Jersey-based healthcare network had treatment information and medical record numbers exposed in a data breach, officials said.

Cooper Health System said they first noticed the unusual actions "on or about" May 14, 2024, and "immediately took steps" to secure their systems.

After almost 11 months of investigation, cybersecurity experts found that "an unknown actor" was able to access the health system's records. These data points included names, Social Security numbers, medical records and health insurance details.

Cooper Health says they have spent the last two months notifying those affected of these results, and that not all of the above data points were impacted for each individual.

According to a notice filed by the Office of the Maine Attorney General, 57,412 people were affected by the breach.

If you were impacted, you may be eligible to receive complimentary identity protection and credit monitoring services, as outlined in a letter from Cooper.

A toll-free help line can be accessed at 1-877-623-0094 for questions and concerns regarding the breach. Representatives are available Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. - 9 p.m. EST.

Steps you can take to protect your personal information (according to Cooper Health):

• Please notify your financial institution immediately if you detect any suspicious activity on any of your accounts, including unauthorized transactions or new accounts opened in your name that you do not recognize. You should also promptly report any fraudulent activity or any suspected incidents of identity theft to proper law enforcement authorities.
• You can request a copy of your credit report, free of charge, directly from each of the three nationwide credit reporting agencies. To do so, free of charge once every 12 months, please visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call toll free at 1-877-322-8228. Contact information for the three nationwide credit reporting agencies is listed at the bottom of this page.
• You can take steps recommended by the Federal Trade Commission to protect yourself from identify theft. The FTC’s website offers helpful information at www.ftc.gov/idtheft.
• Additional information on what you can do to better protect yourself is included in your notification letter.