MedPharm Data Breach Exposes Over Six Million Records

Date: 04/09/2019

Whenever consumers learn about another data breach, they might envision a team of highly-skilled tech operatives working away at fancy computers in a darkened, windowless shop. That kind of scenario might happen, but the reality is that many data breaches are pulled off by an individual working off a laptop in a coffee shop. It is also a possibility that the breach occurred completely by mistake – like when someone forgets to password-protect a server that stores millions of records.

These kinds of accidental data breaches have made headlines in recent months. Truthfully, some are discovered by the good guys who then report them to the companies at fault. The security flaws are fixed and the notification letters get sent out if necessary, all of which happens hopefully before anyone has had a chance to discover the exposed data and use it maliciously.

Even if so-called good guys discover the problem your information was out there for the taking. It is not always a matter of your username and password, sometimes much more personal information is available. Like in the Meditab Software Inc. breach that happened in the first quarter of 2019, where entire medical histories and prescriptions were exposed.

In this chilling situation California-based medical software developer, Meditab, left a feature unprotected in one of its tools. Meditab claims to be one of the world’s leading providers of medical record-keeping software, and it also provides fax capabilities through its partner company, MedPharm. The company was storing patient records on an unprotected server, which meant that any time MedPharm handled the faxing of a patient’s medical records, anyone with internet access could have seen it if they knew where to look.

Fortunately, those good guys discovered this one. A Dubai-based cybersecurity firm named SpiderSilk found that Meditab’s unsecured database included names, addresses, some Social Security numbers, medical histories, doctors’ notes, prescriptions, health insurance data and more. Patients affected ranged in age from early childhood to mature adults.

This kind of violation is a very serious matter under the laws surrounding HIPAA privacy, and the US government has a solid record of going after entities that store information and do not protect it adequately. If the breach was accidental and even if there is no proof that anyone used the information for harm, there are still very heavy fines and penalties for failing to store it securely.

Unfortunately, there are not a lot of actionable steps that individual patients can take in cases like this one. You can, however, ask the hard questions before the event occurs: how will my information be stored, who can access it, what company hosts your electronic database, what are you prepared to do if there is a data breach? Also, remember that there is often no need to share your most sensitive information when filling out basic medical forms; feel free to ask the person requesting it why it is needed.

Medical identity theft is a serious matter, and of all the types of identity-related crimes, this one can potentially have physical consequences for the patient if a thief uses their medical history. It is important to safeguard your medical records as much as possible, and to make your healthcare provider aware if there are any past medical identity theft issues with your personally identifiable information that could impact your care.


Contact the Identity Theft Resource Center for toll-free, no-cost assistance at (888) 400-5530. For on-the-go assistance, check out the free ID Theft Help App from ITRC.

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