Elgin, N.D.-based Jacobson Memorial Hospital and Care Center informed 1,547 patients of a data breach in a Feb. 23 notice.
Around Aug. 5, 2020, the hospital discovered a data incident involving an employee email account potentially exposing current and former patient information to an unauthorized individual.
The email account contained information such as Social Security numbers, credit card numbers and bank account numbers.
The hospital used a specialized cybersecurity firm to conduct an investigation. The results concluded that the individual's primary motivation was to send out spam.
In response, Jacobson Memorial is adding a facilitywide security system and new policies to better protect data. It also began further training for staff and vendors on data protection.
Jacobson Memorial has no evidence that there has been misuse of personal information, but it's offering free identity theft restoration and credit monitoring services through Equifax.
To read the full notice, click here.