Posted On January 13, 2023 Consumer Privacy & Data Breaches
January 13, 2023 – Consulate Health Care posted notice of a data breach on the company’s website in December 2022 after a security incident involving confidential patient information. Official information states that the company it’s still in the process of investigating the leak. Unofficially, a ransomware gang has taken credit for the attack and claims that they have accessed patient and employee information, including full names, protected health information, and Social Security numbers. This is not confirmed information, and we cannot be sure of the extent of the attack until the company’s investigation has concluded.
Consulate Health Care has not yet officially determined what, if any, information has been leaked. If the company does, it will send out data breach notification letters to all affected individuals. If you receive a notification letter from Consulate, the data breach lawyers at Console & Associates, P.C., strongly advise that you prepare for whatever may come next. That includes learning how you can protect yourself should your information fall into the hands of those with malicious intent and preparing yourself for the possibility that, if there has been negligence on the part of Consulate in securing your confidential information, you may be able to pursue a data breach lawsuit against the company. If you recently received a NOTICE OF DATA BREACH from COMPANY, contact us at (866) 778-5500 to discuss your legal options, or submit a confidential contact form for a free case evaluation.
Consulate Health Care Provides healthcare services for seniors, like Comprehensive rehab, dementia and Alzheimer’s care, long-term care, and nursing. The healthcare provider has 140 nursing homes in five states, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Originally founded in 2007 in Maitland, Florida, Consulate Health Care now employs over 4,369 people and generates approximately $1.5 billion in revenue annually.
The information available for the Consulate Health Care breach is limited as the company’s investigation is just beginning. The information we do have comes from a notice posted on the company’s website. Consulate has confirmed that one of the company’s vendors has informed them of a security incident involving information entrusted to Consulate. The company assures that they are constantly communicating with the vendor and will inform any affected individuals if their information has been leaked.
As mentioned above, a well-known ransomware gang has taken credit for the attack and claims to have information about patients and employees, full names, protected health information, and Social Security numbers. This cannot be confirmed as yet.
As a precautionary measure, Consulate is advising all consumers and employees to monitor their financial statements and report any suspicious activity.
You don’t want to wait long before taking steps to secure your information. There is already a ransomware gang taking credit for the breach. Though the information is not confirmed, there is a possibility that your information may already be in the hands of criminals looking to commit identity theft or fraud.
Below is a list of precautionary steps that you can take right now. This list is not comprehensive, and if your information is exposed in the data breach, you may wish to take additional steps.
Whether your financial information was compromised or not, you should secure all of your online accounts. Even if your accounts are not associated with your finances, changing all your passwords is a good idea. Often, a hacker doesn’t have all the information they need to commit their crimes, but it is easy to obtain the rest of the information from other accounts. If multi-factor authorization is available, use it.
Credit monitoring services often come with a monthly fee, but a credit freeze and a fraud alert are complimentary services provided by major credit bureaus. These services will allow you to have some control over your credit profile. A credit freeze will Stop anyone from checking your credit without authorization from you. A fraud alert will alert any company checking your credit that someone may be attempting to use your information for fraud.
Though there haven’t been any notifications to individuals yet, it is a good idea to monitor all of your accounts closely. Lookout for any suspicious activity and report them to law enforcement.
The consumer privacy lawyers at Console & Associates, P.C. help customers affected by data and security breaches pursue legal solutions by offering free consultations. By explaining your rights in clear, concise terms, we help you make an informed decision about your next steps. If you are a victim of the Consulate Health Care data breach, Console & Associates, P.C. will investigate at no charge to you and offer advice on how to proceed. If you decide to pursue a case, rest assured that we don’t get paid unless you do. If your claim is successful, legal fees are either paid out of the funds recovered or by the defendant. If your claim is not successful, you pay nothing.
To schedule your free consultation, just call (866) 778-5500 today or fill out our secure contact form.
Below is a notice of the incident posted on their website:
One of our vendors recently suffered a security incident in early December where cybercriminals targeted portions of their network. Our vendor promptly began working with third-party experts to help them investigate and respond to the incident. During that investigation, the vendor became aware that the unauthorized third party may have accessed records with personal information.
Although our vendor is still investigating the scope of that access, we are providing this notice out of an abundance of caution and because we value transparency. We will notify individuals if we determine that their information was in the files the third party accessed. In the meantime, we encourage individuals to (1) remain vigilant for unauthorized financial activity by reviewing your account statements and free credit reports, (2) consider placing a fraud alert of security freeze on your credit file (which you can do for free), and (3) report any suspicious activity to law enforcement.
We are in regular touch with our vendor, and we are closely monitoring the investigation. We understand that they are working to finish the investigation as quickly as they can. In addition to the above details, we are providing below additional information that we believe could be helpful. We understand you may have questions. If you have any questions related to this notice or the security incident you can reach out to us with your questions at 866-572-8860. You can also use the link here to send in your questions online. Thank you for your understanding and patience.
