Radiology data breach may have exposed private health information
A data breach within the Consulting Radiologists Ltd. network may have exposed patients’ confidential information, including their social security numbers and private health details.
The Edina, Minnesota-based radiology services company, called CRL for short, recently filed a notice of the breach with the attorney general of California and began sending out letters to affected individuals on June 14. CRL posted a notice on its website informing patients on the details of the breach, the company’s response to it and guidance for patients whose data may have been compromised.
The notice says CRL is “providing notice of an event that may affect the privacy of certain individuals’ information. CRL takes this incident very seriously and is providing information about the incident, our response to it, and resources available to individuals to help protect their information, should they feel it appropriate to do so.”
Also in the notice, CRL states that suspicious activity within its network was detected on Feb, 12, 2024. When this was discovered, CRL “took steps to secure its network and engaged a specialized cybersecurity firm to investigate the nature and scope of the incident.”
Once the extent of the breach was determined, CRL then began combing through the data to identify all individuals who may have been affected. Those impacted by the breach may have had their name, date of birth, address, health insurance information and medical information compromised, CRL cautioned, though the company also said there is no evidence to suggest that any private data has been misused to date.
CRL is mailing letters to the affected individuals and is offering credit monitoring and identity protection services. If someone does not receive a letter but is concerned about their private information being compromised, a dedicated assistance line (1-833-566-7922) has been created to help address questions.
It is believed that more than 500,000 people could be impacted by the data leak.
The full notice can be found here.
In addition to her background in journalism, Hannah also has patient-facing experience in clinical settings, having spent more than 12 years working as a registered rad tech. She joined Innovate Healthcare in 2021 and has since put her unique expertise to use in her editorial role with Health Imaging.