CentroMed Falls Victim to Another Cyberattack: 400,000 Affected
The San Antonio, TX, healthcare provider El Centro Del Barrio, which does business as CentroMed, has confirmed that it has fallen victim to a cyberattack. This is the second cyberattack and data breach to be disclosed by CentroMed in the past year. The previous data breach was announced by CentroMed in August 2023, following unauthorized access to its systems on June 9, 2024. The Karakurt threat group claimed responsibility for the attack and claimed to have stolen 42 GB of data, although the group does not appear to have leaked the data. CentroMed reported the breach to the HHS’ Office for Civil Rights as involving the protected health information (PHI) of 350,000 patients.
The latest incident was recently announced on CentroMed’s website, and notification letters started to be mailed to the 400,000 affected individuals on May 17, 2024. CentroMed explained that unusual activity was identified within its IT network on May 1, 2024. Steps were immediately taken to secure its networks and data and an investigation was launched to identify the cause of the abnormal activity.
The forensic investigation confirmed an unidentified third party gained access to its network on April 30, 2024, and accessed or acquired files that contained the PHI of current and former patients. The review of the files confirmed that they contained patient names, addresses, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, financial account information, medical record numbers, health insurance information, diagnosis and treatment information, and claims data.
In its notification letters, CentroMed advised the affected patients to check their statements and report any services they have not received to their healthcare provider. They have also been advised to monitor their financial accounts for suspicious activity. The notification letters make no mention of credit monitoring and identity theft protection services being offered. CentroMed said it has implemented additional safeguards and technical security measures to further protect and monitor its systems.
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Update: CentroMed has issued an update on the recovery from the cyberattack on July 3, 2024, and has confirmed that its electronic medical record system is back online, and basic functionality of its information systems has been restored, although a full recovery has not yet been achieved
