Another announcement of a potential computer breach

11:44 am November 22, 2011, by Christopher Seward

A San Diego-based not-for-profit physicians network says a computer stolen last month contained the names, addresses, email addresses, birth dates, telephone numbers and insurance information of 3.3 million patients. The network, Sutter Medical Foundation, said additional information on 943,000 patients contained medical record numbers, dates of services and a description of medical diagnoses and procedures.

In July, the Secret Service said it was investigating how the personal information of patients at the DeKalb Medical’s Hillandale facility was stolen.

Just this week, the YMCA of Metro Atlanta said one of its computers containing the personal information of members active in 2008 had been stolen, although one member told Channel 2 Action News the case involved several computers.

In some cases, it isn’t a computer that is hacked but paper records falling into the hands of suspected thieves. In April, they got access to some patients’ records at Emory Orthopedic Clinic. Investigators found stacks of fraudulent tax returns, stolen checks and Social Security numbers at a Gwinnett County home.

Given the frequent announcements about hackers and others potentially gaining access to the personal data we thought we were providing securely, it’s no wonder we’re wary of providing such information. Or have we become so used to the announcements that we tend not to worry that anyone will get to our data?

Christopher Seward

22 comments Add your comment

Another announcement of a potential computer breach – Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) | moneybusinessblog.info

November 22nd, 2011
12:01 pm

[...] Another announcement of a potential computer breachAtlanta Journal Constitution (blog)A San Diego-based not-for-profit physicians network says a computer stolen last month contained the names, addresses, email addresses, birth dates, telephone numbers and insurance information of 3.3 million patients. The network, Sutter Medical …Stolen computer contained patient informationLake County Record-Bee [...]

Another announcement of a potential computer breach – Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) | Computers Online Blog

November 22nd, 2011
1:44 pm

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Another announcement of a potential computer breach – Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) | Computers Blog Tips

November 22nd, 2011
2:24 pm

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Another announcement of a potential computer breach – Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) | My Computers Blog

November 22nd, 2011
3:06 pm

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Justin

November 22nd, 2011
3:21 pm

It’s alarming that they had real customer data on test/development boxes to begin with. That’s a huge no-no in the IT industry.