Nashville, Ark.-based Howard Memorial Hospital notified 53,668 patients that some of their protected health information may have been compromised in a December cybersecurity incident after an unauthorized party stole files from its network.
On Dec. 4, Howard noticed suspicious activity within its computer network, and learned that an unauthorized party was claiming to have breached some of its data.
An investigation into the incident revealed that an unauthorized party had stolen files from its network between Nov. 14 and Dec. 4, according to a Jan. 27 breach notification from Howard.
The files included patient information such as names, contact information, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, health insurance information, medical record numbers, medical history, diagnosis, treatment information and physician name.
Since the incident, Howard has secured its network and notified federal law enforcement, as well as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service.
Howard said it is also looking into its existing policies and procedures to implement additional administrative and technical safeguards to further secure its systems from unauthorized access.