L.A. County public health was hacked, compromising info of 200,000 people

The department hired Kroll which will provide identity monitoring for a year for free for those affected by the hack.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health announced on Friday, June 14, that a phishing attack in February allowed a hacker to gain log-in credentials of 53 employees, compromising the personal information of more than 200,000 people.

The attack through phishing email took place between Feb. 19 and 20. After discovering the breach, the health department said it disabled the impacted e-mail accounts, reset and re-imaged the users’ devices, blocked websites that were identified as part of the phishing campaign and quarantined all suspicious incoming e-mails.

Additionally, notifications were distributed to all workforce members to remind them to be vigilant when reviewing e-mails, especially those including links or attachments. Law enforcement was notified and they investigated the incident, according to DPH.

The information identified in the potentially compromised e-mail accounts may have included DPH clients/employees/other individuals’ first and last name, date of birth, diagnosis, prescription, medical record number/patient ID, Medicare/Med-Cal number, health insurance information, Social Security Number and other financial information.

Affected individuals may have been impacted differently and not all of the elements listed were present for each individual, DPH said.

The health department is notifying impacted individuals by mail. For individuals where a mailing address is not available, the department is also posting a notice on its website to provide information and resources. DPH said it is also notifying the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights and other agencies as required by law and/or contract.

DPH said it has implemented numerous enhancements to reduce exposure to similar e-mail attacks in the future.

While the health department cannot confirm whether information has been accessed or misused, individuals are encouraged to review the content and accuracy of the information in their medical record with their medical provider.

To help relieve concerns following this incident, the department said it has secured the services of Kroll, a global leader in risk mitigation and response, to provide identity monitoring for one year at no cost to affected clients.