Once again, lost notebook PCs have exposed the data of thousands of health care patients. It’s the latest in an growing number of security breaches in which third parties have gained unauthorized access to patient files, prompting the company involved to begin alerting the affected patients. In this instance, the two stolen laptops — owned by John Muir Health in California — contained password-protected but otherwise unencrypted patient data. eSecurity Planet takes a look.
Officials at John Muir Health are in the process of notifying more than 5,000 patients that their personal information may have been compromised after a pair of laptops were stolen from the hospital system’s perinatal clinic in Walnut Creek, Calif.
On Monday, John Muir Health officials began contacting 5,450 women to warn them that identity thieves may have gotten their hands on medical information and accompanying personal information sometime in February.
