The Toledo-based Dental Center of Northwest Ohio has disclosed that a ransomware attack affecting its local third-party IT vendor may be endangered personal data belonging to current and former patients and employees.The IT vendor, Arakyta, informed the health care provider of the possible breach situation around Sept. 1, 2018, the health care provider said in a Dec. 28 press release."Based on the information provided by Arakyta, on Nov. 7, 2018, the Dental Center confirmed that systems containing Dental Center information were potentially accessible to an unknown actor," the release states. Although there has been no evidence of unauthorized access or misuse of personal information, the Dental Center nevertheless concluded that it was necessary to notify potentially affected individuals.In response to the incident, the Dental Center said it has launched an investigation and is offering free credit monitoring and identity theft protection services, as well as "taking steps to implement additional safeguards and review policies and procedures relating to data privacy and security."
Breach, Threat Management, Data Security, Malware, Ransomware
Dental Center of NW Ohio feels bite of ransomware attack on IT vendor
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Bradley Barth
As director of multimedia content strategy at CyberRisk Alliance, Bradley Barth develops content for online conferences, webcasts, podcasts video/multimedia projects — often serving as moderator or host. For nearly six years, he wrote and reported for SC Media as deputy editor and, before that, senior reporter. He was previously a program executive with the tech-focused PR firm Voxus. Past journalistic experience includes stints as business editor at Executive Technology, a staff writer at New York Sportscene and a freelance journalist covering travel and entertainment. In his spare time, Bradley also writes screenplays.
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