Healthcare is a prime target for data breaches and hacks, and 2015 had its fair share of breach incidents.
Here are the 15 biggest data breaches so far in 2015, starting with the highest number of affected individuals. Data is gathered from HHS Office of Civil Right's breach notification portal and was accessed Oct. 12. Numbers have been rounded.
1. Anthem (Indianapolis)
- Individuals affected: 78.8 million
- Type of breach: Hacking/IT incident
2. Premera Blue Cross (Mountlake Terrace, Wash.)
- Individuals affected: 11 million
- Type of breach: Hacking/IT incident
3. Excellus Health Plan (Rochester, N.Y.)
- Individuals affected: 10 million
- Type of breach: Hacking/IT incident
4. UCLA Health
- Individuals affected: 4.5 million
- Type of breach: Hacking/IT incident
5. Medical Informatics Engineering (Fort Wayne, Ind.)
- Individuals affected: 3.9 million
- Type of breach: Hacking/IT incident
6. CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield (Baltimore)
- Individuals affected: 1.1 million
- Type of breach: Hacking/IT incident
7. Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services (Richmond)
- Individuals affected: 698,000
- Type of breach: Hacking/IT incident
8. Georgia Department of Community Health (Atlanta)
- Individuals affected: 558,000
- Type of breach: Hacking/IT incident
9. Beacon Health System (South Bend, Ind.)
- Individuals affected: 307,000
- Type of breach: Hacking/IT incident
10. Empi Inc./DJO (Vista, Calif.)
- Individuals affected: 160,000
- Type of breach: Laptop theft
11. Advantage Consolidated (Redmond, Ore.)
- Individuals affected: 152,000
- Type of breach: Hacking/IT incident
12. Jacobi Medical Center (Bronx, N.Y.)
- Individuals affected: 90,060
- Type of breach: Unauthorized access/disclosure
13. City of Philadelphia Fire Department EMS Unit
- Individuals affected: 81,000
- Type of breach: Unauthorized access/disclosure
14. Tennessee Rural Health Improvement Association (Columbia)
- Individuals affected: 79,000
- Type of breach: Unauthorized access/disclosure
15. North East Medical Services (San Francisco)
- Individuals affected: 69,000
- Type of breach: Laptop theft
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