Over a quarter of Indiana's residents affected

Aug 3, 2015 06:09 GMT  ·  By

Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller has started an investigation in the hacking of Medical Informatics Engineering (MIE) and its subsidiary NoMoreClipboard, both Indiana-based companies that provide data administration services for hospitals and clinics across the US.

The data breach was reported to law enforcement agencies on May 26, but according to an investigation carried out by third-party forensics, the intrusion took place on May 7, as Security Ledger reports.

According to the Attorney General's official statement, the breach "may have impacted an estimated 1.5 million Hoosiers [Indiana residents] and 3.9 million people nationwide." As a side note, 1.5 million Hoosiers represents about a quarter of Indiana's total population.

Data from 11 healthcare providers and 44 radiology clinics was exposed in the attack, and the culprits are still unknown, no hacker group taking responsibility yet.

Authorities warns citizens to take precaution measures

The type of information stored in the electronic health records includes personal details, social security numbers, lab results, medical conditions, health plan information, and more.

Clinics and hospitals from Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio were affected, most of them being located in Fort Wayne and Indianapolis (both in the state Indiana). The full list can be consulted on MIE's website.

The same MIE press release, along with Mr. Zoeller's official announcement, urges citizens with data at the affected hospitals to set up a credit freeze to safeguard their economies until the investigation ends.

“We are faced with yet another massive data breach putting countless Hoosiers at risk of identity theft and fraud,” Zoeller said.

“People cannot sit back and assume they won’t become a victim of these crimes which are costly, time consuming to fix and can have a long-term impact on your financial stability and credit. Everyone in Indiana should have a credit freeze in place to protect themselves from becoming a victim of identity theft and fraud.”