Allergy and Asthma Clinic of Fort Worth has uncovered an unauthorized person who obtained access to its computer programs and possibly obtained the billing details of patients. The clinic found the incident on June 4, 2020 and immediately took steps to stop even more unauthorized access. As per the breach investigation, the hacker acquired access to the network on May 20, 2020.
An evaluation of the breached computer systems showed that the attacker possibly accessed records that contain patients’ names, phone numbers, addresses, birth dates, Social Security numbers, insurance data, and details concerning the reasons for appointments.
Cybersecurity experts came to investigate the safety measures of the Allergy and Asthma Clinic of Fort Worth. Additional protections will be implemented, as necessary, to strengthen network security to prevent further data breaches.
The breach report filed with the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights shows that the breach affected 69,777 people.
Chinese Hackers Targeted Biotech Company Studying COVID-19 Vaccine
Hackers targeted the biotech company Moderna based in Massachusetts to look for COVID-19 research information. Moderna was doing research on a vaccine for COVID-19 and declared its vaccine candidate in January. Reuters stated that the company found “information reconnaissance activities” in January and has contacted the FBI concerning the alleged attack.
The company is thought to have been targeted by the Chinese attackers which the Department of Justice indicted in July for carrying out an 11-year campaign of cyber espionage attacks on companies and government institutions in the U.S.
The reconnaissance is considered to have been an attempt to steal information associated with the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine developed by Moderna, which has lately entered a stage III clinical trial.
Moderna continues to be extremely cautious about possible cybersecurity threats, having an internal squad, external support services, and good work interactions with outside regulators to continually evaluate threats and safeguard its valuable data.