Seton Family of Hospitals Data Breach (2015)

Seton Family of Hospitals will provide free identity monitoring and protection services for patients who had their personal information leaked in a phishing attack targeting employee emails. Approximately 39,000 patients received letters about the breach in which hackers accessed protected patient information, including demographic information, medical record numbers, insurance information and Social Security numbers. Seton was notified of the breach on Feb. 26. "We value the privacy and security of protected information, and we are committed to protecting the confidentiality and privacy of our patients and employees," said Jes_s Garza, Seton Healthcare Family president and chief executive officer. "It is our priority to support those who have been affected." Usernames and passwords for the email accounts were immediately shut down, and Seton launched a thorough investigation. Computer experts were able to conduct an analysis of information contained in the affected email accounts, determine the scope of the incident and identify all the individuals affected. "The organization is taking all necessary and appropriate steps to prevent a recurrence," Garza said. He said Seton will continue to implement administrative, technical and physical safeguards against unauthorized access of protected information.