Palomar Health Medical Group (PHMG) issued an advisory Wednesday stating that patient information may have been compromised in a recent data breach.
In an email to KPBS, PHMG said the breach occurred between April 23 and May 5. The email, sent on behalf of PHMG and its subsidiaries, Graybill Medical Group Inc. and Pacific Accountable Care, said the hackers gained access to patients’ names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, medical histories and health insurance information.
Since May 5, PHMG’s computers have been down and doctors have been unable to access patient records, including prescription information.
Palomar Health said it did not know how many patient records were compromised and that the hackers appeared to have downloaded and deleted some files, which may be “unrecoverable.”
Tony Anscombe, a cybersecurity expert at ESET, a global cybersecurity firm based in San Diego, calls this situation quite alarming. He says PHMG patients should assume that their data has been hacked.
“I would also check your health insurance applications to make sure no one has made any fraudulent claims in the last two months on your insurance policy,” Anscombe said. “I would lock your credit report. That means no one can use your Social Security number or personal information to access credit.”
Given that the hackers were able to download and delete recordings, Nikolas Behar, a cybersecurity professor at the University of San Diego, said the hack could be a case of double-extortion ransomware.
“That leads me to believe that the attacker tried to delete the data and then say, ‘Hey, if you want your data back, you’re going to have to pay us,'” he said. “And then on top of that, once they get the data back, they’ll say, ‘Okay, if you don’t want us to release it, you’re going to have to pay us again,’ and that’s becoming very, very common.”
Behar said small health systems like Palomar Health don’t have the financial resources or manpower to quickly retrieve data.
PHMG said anyone with questions about the breach can call (888) 829-5736 between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. Eastern Time, excluding holidays. They can also write to 15611 Pomerado Road, Poway, CA 92064.
