January Beaumont email hack affected 6,000 patients: 4 details

Royal Oak, Mich.-based Beaumont Health reported information about thousands of patients was potentially exposed during a phishing scam earlier this year, according to the Detroit Free Press.

Four things to know:

1. The health system said that six employee email accounts were hacked between Jan. 3 and Jan. 29. The system learned about the incident in January and conducted an investigation that lasted through June 5.

2. The investigation found at least one of the breached accounts contained personal or protected health information, such as patient names, birthdates, diagnoses, treatment, prescription information and medical record numbers.

3. On July 28, the health system notified about 6,000 patients that their data may have been breached, although the health system said it is not aware of any data misuse.

4. Beaumont previously reported a phishing scam from May 23 to June 3 that breached information of 112,000 people treated by the health system.

More articles on cybersecurity:
NY hospital reverts to pen & paper after online breach: 4 details
Lifespan pays over $1M to settle HIPAA charge
CVS Pharmacy loses 21,289 patients' information after vandalism