Good Backups Save Eye Clinic from falling victim to Ransomware Attack

2019, Breaches, February

Who: Dr. DeLuca & Dr. Marciano Eye

# of Accounts Breached: 23, 578 patients

When it happened: November 29, 2018

What Happened: Ransomware Attack

How it happened: Twenty-five of the clinic’s computer monitors went unresponsive the morning of Nov. 29 due to a ransomware attack. The hacker may have gained access to 23,578 patients’ sensitive data, including names, Social Security numbers, ​and some health information.

Outcome: All affected patients have been notified. The doctor’s office had backups on a separate system that was not affected in the attack and was able to restore from those backups without paying the ransom demand. It took the clinic three days to delete everything from the compromised system and transition to the other system. Their cyber insurance policy helped pay for them notifying patients.