Data Breach at Medical College of Wisconsin Exposes Patient Data; 3,200 Patients Notified

MILWAUKEE -- The Medical College of Wisconsin has notified about 3,200 patients that some of their patient data was subject to a security breach over a three-day period from July 2-4.

According to a report by WISN, an investigation on Aug. 3 by the Medical College of Wisconsin revealed the details the breach, which accessed an employee's e-mail account. The email account in question contained full names, dates of birth, home addresses, medical record numbers and codes or notes related to diagnosis or treatment provided. Also, the Social Security numbers of two patients were included in the email account.

"To date, MCW is not aware of any reports of identity fraud, theft or other harmful activity resulting from this incident," the college said in a statement.

Medical College of Wisconsin officials said in a statement that they were not aware of any reports of identity theft or fraud related to July's incident, and is providing credit monitoring for potentially affected parties.

Healthcare Industry Is Prime Cyber Crime Target

According to research compiled by Infoweek, the Health Care industry is one of the industries most-targeted by data hackers and illegal information-seekers:

• Of data breaches across all industries, 23 percent happen at healthcare organizations, as found in a Brookings Institution report.
• In 2015, healthcare had the highest rate of data breaches compared to any other industry, IBM reported.
• Most healthcare organizations (90 percent) have suffered a data breach in the last two years, according to a Ponemon Institute report.
• The Ponemon Institute report also found data breaches cost the industry $6.2 billion over the last two years.