The University of Florida if notifying 330,000 dental school patients of a recently discovered data breach. The university learned that malware found on their server compromised names, Social Security numbers and other personal information. In addition to the 330,000 people who were notified, another 8,000
individuals whose current mailing addresses couldn't be found were
affected by the intrusion, according to the statement and UF hopes the media reports will help in notifying them.
The compromised data, that now places these patients ad risk of id theft, included the names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and addresses of current and former College of Dentistry patients dating back to 1990, as well as information about dental procedures in some cases, the university said in a statement.
The data had been stored unencrypted in a database on the breached server In the wake of the discovery of the breach, the university is working to examine nearly 60,000 other computers on its campus to ensure that they aren't similarly vulnerable to security threats.
A spokesperson for the University said "It's unfortunate that like many large institutions we were targeted. We work hard to continually fine-tune our security protections, and maintaining our patients' trust and confidence is of utmost importance," said Teresa Dolan, dean of the UF College of Dentistry. "We cannot stress enough how seriously we take this matter. As soon as we learned of this situation, we launched an investigation and implemented additional safeguards designed to protect personal information. We urge patients to take the preventive steps we've outlined, and want to express our dismay at the inconvenience this occurrence may cause anyone."
An additional 8,248 patients had data stored on the server, but current mailing addresses could not be identified for them. The university is notifying the national media in an attempt to reach them. Most of the patients are from Florida.
The university has established a hotline 1-866-783-5883, to field patient inquiries.
If you believe you may be affected by this latest data breach, take the time to place fraud alerts and/or freeze your credit...and see earlier blog for additional steps you can take to avoid the impact of an identity theft: Are you one of the tens of millions to be notified your information is in the hands of thieves? Do you have a plan of action? .
The compromised data, that now places these patients ad risk of id theft, included the names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and addresses of current and former College of Dentistry patients dating back to 1990, as well as information about dental procedures in some cases, the university said in a statement.
The data had been stored unencrypted in a database on the breached server In the wake of the discovery of the breach, the university is working to examine nearly 60,000 other computers on its campus to ensure that they aren't similarly vulnerable to security threats.
A spokesperson for the University said "It's unfortunate that like many large institutions we were targeted. We work hard to continually fine-tune our security protections, and maintaining our patients' trust and confidence is of utmost importance," said Teresa Dolan, dean of the UF College of Dentistry. "We cannot stress enough how seriously we take this matter. As soon as we learned of this situation, we launched an investigation and implemented additional safeguards designed to protect personal information. We urge patients to take the preventive steps we've outlined, and want to express our dismay at the inconvenience this occurrence may cause anyone."
An additional 8,248 patients had data stored on the server, but current mailing addresses could not be identified for them. The university is notifying the national media in an attempt to reach them. Most of the patients are from Florida.
The university has established a hotline 1-866-783-5883, to field patient inquiries.
If you believe you may be affected by this latest data breach, take the time to place fraud alerts and/or freeze your credit...and see earlier blog for additional steps you can take to avoid the impact of an identity theft: Are you one of the tens of millions to be notified your information is in the hands of thieves? Do you have a plan of action? .
NEWSLETTER SIGN UP
SUBSCRIBE
CONTACT
Leave a comment