Harvard Pilgrim Health Care patients’ sensitive personal information, including Social Security numbers, may have been stolen as officials continue to investigate a cybersecurity ransomware incident from several weeks ago.
The local health care giant has now started contacting individuals whose information might have been copied and taken from the Harvard Pilgrim systems.
“While we are not aware of any misuse of personal information and protected health information as a result of the incident, out of an abundance of caution, Harvard Pilgrim is offering complimentary access to two years of credit monitoring and identity theft protection services through IDX to potentially impacted individuals,” Point32Health, the parent organization of Harvard Pilgrim and Tufts Health Plan, wrote in an update.
“We also recommend that individuals remain vigilant, monitor, and review their financial and account statements and explanations of benefits, and report any unusual activity to the institution that issued the record and to law enforcement,” Point32Health added.
On April 17, Harvard Pilgrim discovered a cybersecurity ransomware incident, impacting systems that support Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Commercial and Medicare Advantage Stride plans.
The parent organization of Harvard Pilgrim notified law enforcement, and hired a third-party cybersecurity firm to investigate the root cause of the ransomware incident. Investigators have determined that data was copied and taken from March 28 to April 17.
“We take the privacy and security of the data entrusted to us seriously,” Harvard Pilgrim said in a statement. “We are continuing our active investigation and conducting extensive system reviews and analysis before we can resume our normal business operations.”
“We want to assure you that we are taking this incident extremely seriously, and we deeply regret any inconvenience this incident may cause,” Harvard Pilgrim later added.
Investigators determined that the files at issue may contain the following types of personal information and/or protected health information: names, physical addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, health insurance account information, Social Security numbers, provider taxpayer identification numbers, and clinical information (medical history, diagnoses, treatment, dates of service, and provider names).
Harvard Pilgrim has established a dedicated call center for individuals to contact with questions or concerns, and for potentially impacted individuals to enroll in complimentary credit monitoring and identity theft protection services.
Those with any questions regarding this incident are being urged to contact the dedicated assistance line at 888-220-5517.
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