ESO Solutions, a provider of software products for healthcare organizations and fire departments, disclosed that data belonging to 2.7 million patients has been compromised as a result of a ransomware attack.
According to the notification, the intrusion occurred on September 28 and resulted in data being exfiltrated before the hackers encrypted a number of company systems.
During the investigation of the incident, ESO Solutions discovered that the attackers accessed one machine that contained sensitive personal data.
On October 23, the company determined that the data breach caused by the ransomware attack impacted patients associated with its customers, including hospitals and clinics in the U.S. The type of data exposed includes the following:
Full name
Dates of birth
Phone number
Patient account/medical record number
Injury type and date
Diagnosis information
Treatment type and date
Procedure information
Social Security Number (SSN)
The exact types of data exposed vary per individual, depending on the details the patients provided to the healthcare organizations using ESO’s software and the care services they received.
The software vendor has informed the FBI and state authorities of the incident. All impacted customers were notified on December 12, and some of the affected hospitals started sending notices of a breach to their patients in the days that followed.
“At this time, we do not have evidence that your information has been misused,” reads the notification to impacted patients.
To mitigate the risk of the data breach, ESO offers 12 months of identity monitoring service coverage through Kroll to all notice recipients.
As of writing, the following healthcare providers are confirmed as impacted by the ransomware attack at ESO:
Mississippi Baptist Medical Center
Community Health Systems Merit Health Biloxi
Merit Health River Oaks
ESO EMS Agency
Forrest Health Forrest General Hospital
HCA Healthcare Alaska Regional Hospital
Memorial Hospital at Gulfport Health System
Providence St Joseph Health (Providence Kodiak Island Medical Center)
Providence Alaska Medical Center
Universal Health Services (UHS) Manatee Memorial Hospital
Desert View Hospital
Ascension Providence Hospital in Waco
Tallahassee Memorial
Manatee Memorial Hospital
CaroMont Health
From what BleepingComputer could find, no ransomware have taken responsibility for the ESO attack.
Unfortunately, these supply-chain breaches have become all too common in the healthcare space, impacting patient data safety and threatening the operational and financial stability of medical institutions.
