Archer Health locks down database following leak

TechRadar reports that U.S. palliative and in-home care services provider Archer Health has moved to promptly secure a misconfigured database that inadvertently exposed nearly 145,000 health records.

Included in the 23 GB data trove were internal assessments, discharge forms, treatment plans, and home health certifications in various formats, which contained individuals' names, Social Security numbers, phone numbers, and addresses, as well as their diagnostic and treatment details and patient ID numbers, according to an analysis by cybersecurity researcher Jeremiah Fowler published on Website Planet.

Archer Health said its team is investigating the breach and will immediately address potential security issues.

"We take data security and patient privacy very seriously," said the firm.

At present, there are no signs that the data was distributed on the dark web. However, without forensic analysis, it cannot be ruled out that others have already accessed the data before it was secured.