Email phishing attack compromises information of Illinois hospital patients.

In September 2019, Illinois-based hospital, Carle Foundation, revealed that a data breach in their network might have compromised the details of 1,653 patients. Exposed information includes patient names, health records, birth dates, and medical information such as diagnosis and treatment plans.

What happened.

Three employees at the hospital fell victim to an email phishing scam, allowing the threat actors to access the compromised accounts. Carle Foundation learned about the incident on June 24. They secured the email accounts and launched an investigation with the help of cybersecurity professionals to identify the extent of the attack. Fortunately, Social Security numbers and financial details of the patients were not stored in those email accounts. Additionally, the investigations revealed that only the information of patients who received cardiology and surgery services at the hospital were exposed in the breach. 

"We have no indication the unauthorized person used patient information in any way or viewed the emails containing patient information," Carle announced in a press release.

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