BERLIN – Atlantic General Hospital continues to encourage patients impacted by January’s data breach to remain vigilant in notices mailed to those affected.
About five months after initial reports of a ransomware incident at Atlantic General Hospital (AGH), notices have been sent to impacted individuals and lawyers are trying to drum up clients for class action lawsuits related to the data breach. While the hospital would not comment on the potential for lawsuits, the letter mailed to patients June 22 provides details of the incident, AGH’s response and steps to protect against the misuse of personal information. This was the second mailer addressing the incident.
“AGH takes the privacy and security of the information in out care seriously,” the letter from AGH President and CEO Don Owrey reads. “We sincerely regret any inconvenience or concern this incident may cause you.”
On Jan. 29, AGH discovered encrypted files on certain computer systems. An investigation revealed unauthorized use of certain AGH servers beginning on Jan. 20, according to the letter.
Through our investigation, we learned that certain files within our network were subject to unauthorized access during the period of unauthorized access,” the letter reads. “AGH then undertook a comprehensive review of these files to determine what data was contained within the files and to whom the data relates.”