Ransomware Attack on Texas Mental Health Service Provider Impacts 172K Patients
Deer Oaks Behavioral Health, a mental health service in San Antonio, TX, fell victim to a ransomware attack on September 1, 2023. According to its breach notice, its antivirus software immediately detected and contained the threat, and encryption was limited to a single segment of its network.
A third-party cybersecurity firm was engaged to investigate the security breach determine the root cause of the attack and identify the extent to which its network had been breached. The forensic investigation confirmed that files stored on the compromised network server included patients’ protected health information, and files were exfiltrated on August 29, 2023. The review of the files was completed on September 29, 2023, and confirmed they contained information such as names, addresses, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, diagnosis codes, insurance information, and treatment service types. Deer Oaks then verified contact information and notification letters started to be mailed to the affected individuals on October 31, 2023.
The breach has been reported to the Maine Attorney General as affecting up to 171,871 individuals, including 460 Maine residents. The affected individuals have been offered identity theft protection and credit monitoring services through IDX. Deer Oaks said data privacy and security are among its highest priorities, and it moved quickly to secure its systems, investigate the breach, notify the affected individuals, and implement additional measures to further improve security. The investigation into the attack is ongoing but notifying the infected individuals was a priority.
Healthcare organizations continue to be targeted by ransomware groups. While there are growing numbers of attacks involving data theft and extortion without file encryption, around three-quarters of attacks on healthcare organizations see data encrypted, according to Sophos. NCC Group recently reported an 86% month-over-month increase in healthcare ransomware attacks in September. While some of the large ransomware groups have a policy of not attacking healthcare providers, there has been an alarming increase in active ransomware groups. NCC Group tracked 86% more active ransomware groups in September 2023 than the same time last year, and several of these groups have conducted large numbers of attacks and have no issue with attacking healthcare organizations.
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