14 DAY TRIAL // Bay Area Pain Medical Associates has announced a number of 2,780 patients that their medical records fell into the hands of criminals as a result of a break-in at their office, which resulted in the theft of three desktop computers, among other things.
The letter sent to the affected individuals says that all medical records available on the three computers were encrypted, save for an Excel spreadsheet that contained the patients' full names and the years when they visited the practice.
Compared to similar incidents in the past, this one did not leak too much information, considering that no Social Security numbers, dates of birth, contact details or financial data were stored in the unencrypted file.
The break-in occurred on May 19 and the notification letter is dated July 10; the difference between the two dates might be due to the investigation of the incident carried out in order to determine what information was exposed from the stolen systems.
“Please be assured that we have taken every step necessary to address the incident and have changed the security on that document. Though there does not appear to be any risk for identity theft, you can call the three major credit agencies and place a 90-day fraud alert,” the company writes in the letter.