News-Record (Greensboro, NC)-Security Breach Affects 2500 @UNCG

photo credit:News-Record.com

(Story reported by staff at the Greensboro News-Record)

GREENSBORO — Computer security breaches at two UNCG clinics allowed unauthorized access to information about more than 2,500 people, the university said today in a news release.

It is unknown whether any information was actually taken from the computers.

The university has mailed letters to the last known addresses of those whose information was exposed and posted notices on the clinics’ websites. The two computers infected with malware via the Internet were in the university’s Speech and Hearing Center and Psychology Clinic, according to the news release.

Although the problems were discovered days apart in June, they are believed to be unrelated. Employees of the clinics and Information Technology Services have been working since then to determine what records were vulnerable and who might be impacted. It is not known how long the breaches lasted before detection.

“It is our responsibility to secure the information of individuals who come to us for health services, and that is a responsibility we take very seriously” David H. Perrin, provost and executive vice chancellor, stated in the release. “We apologize to everyone whose records were vulnerable and ask them to closely monitor their credit for unauthorized activity. We fixed the security breaches as soon as they were detected, and we have taken steps to minimize the potential for future breaches.”

If you believe that your personal health information may have been exposed by the breach at the Speech and Hearing Center and you have questions or concerns, call the center’s toll-free number, (877) 550-6012, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday-Thursday or between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Friday.

For more information about the breach at the Psychology Clinic, call the clinic’s toll-free number, (887) 550-6008, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays, beginning Wednesday.

The bulk of the impacted records are in the Speech and Hearing Center, where a breach was found June 10 and corrected the same day. The compromised computer was used for billing and contained records for about 2,300 people who have received services from the center since 1997. Vulnerable data included names, addresses, social security numbers, dates of birth, telephone numbers, insurance companies, insurance ID numbers, group numbers, diagnosis codes, procedure codes and charges.

(click here to read the full story on the Greensboro News-Record website)