Wakefield & Associates Announces Breach of Client Data
Wakefield & Associates, a Knoxville, Tennessee-based vendor that offers revenue cycle & collections services to healthcare providers, has recently announced a security incident that was identified on or around January 17, 2025.
Wakefield & Associates explained in a website data breach notice that suspicious activity was identified within its computer systems, and the forensic investigation confirmed unauthorized access to files containing the protected health information of patients of its healthcare clients. Some of those files were exfiltrated from its network on or before January 17, 2025. The breach notice issued to the Maine Attorney General states that initial access occurred on January 14, 2025.
Following an extensive review of the exposed data, Wakefield & Associates determined on September 24, 2025, that some of the exposed files contained protected health information that was provided to the company by its healthcare clients. The information potentially compromised in the incident was mostly limited to names and collection account information, although for some individuals, it included their Social Security number, financial account information, driver’s license number/state identification number, and/or health information.
Wakefield & Associates is issuing notification letters on behalf of its affected clients and is offering the affected individuals complimentary credit monitoring and identity theft protection services. Existing security policies and procedures have been reviewed, and additional safeguards implemented to prevent similar incidents in the future.
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The breach notice does not state the nature of the cyberattack, but this appears to have been a ransomware attack by the Akira threat group. Akira claimed in a February 11, 2025, listing on its dark web data leak site that it stole 13 GB of data in the attack, including patient and employee information.
Wakefield & Associates said law enforcement was notified, and the data security incident has been reported to regulators. The HHS’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) breach portal has not been updated since late September due to the government shutdown, so it is currently unclear how many individuals have been affected. The Montana Attorney General was informed that 26,624 state residents were affected, and the Maine Attorney General was notified that 41 Maine residents were affected. Northern Montana Health Care has confirmed that it was one of the affected clients.
