Hospital network hacked, 4.5 million records stolen

(CNNMoney) — Community Health Systems, which operates 206 hospitals across the United States, announced on Monday that hackers recently broke into its computers and stole data on 4.5 million patients.

Hackers have taken 4.5 million Social Security numbers from patients who attended any one of Community Health Systems’ 206 hospitals this year.

Hackers have gained access to their names, Social Security numbers, physical addresses, birthdays and telephone numbers.

Anyone who received treatment from a network-owned hospital in the last five years — or was merely referred there by an outside doctor — is affected.

The large data breach puts these people at heightened risk of identity fraud. That allows criminals to open bank accounts and credit cards on their behalf, take out loans and ruin personal credit history.

The company’s hospitals operate in 28 states but have their most significant presence in Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Texas.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Community Health operates nine hospitals in Illinois, including three in the Chicago area. The three Chicago-area facilities are: Vista Medical Center and Vista Medical Center West in Waukegan as well as MetroSouth Medical Center in Blue Island. For a list of hospitals in all areas CLICK HERE.

Community Health Systems hired cybersecurity experts at Mandiant to consult on the hack. They have determined the hackers were in China and used high-end, sophisticated malware to launch the attacks sometime in April and June this year.

Federal investigators and Mandiant told the hospital network those hackers have previously been spotted conducting corporate espionage, targeting valuable information about medical devices.

But this time, the hackers stole patient data instead. Hackers did not manage to steal information related to patients’ medical histories, clinical operations or credit cards.

Still, the lost personal information is protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, the federal health records protection law. That means patients could sue the hospital network for damages.

Shares of the publicly-traded Community Health Systems edged lower Monday morning. But the company tried to stem worries about the damages in a filing Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, saying that it “carries cyber/privacy liability insurance to protect it against certain losses related to matters of this nature.”

The hospital network said that, it managed to wipe the hackers’ malware from its computer systems and implemented protections to prevent similar break-ins.

The network plans to offer identity theft protection to the 4.5 million victims of the data breach. If you're in need of additional protection; MNHCS offers LifeLock Identity Theft Protection for as low as $9/month.

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