American Anesthesiology Data Breach

An American Anesthesiology cyberattack was reported in January, potentially affecting nearly 1.27 million individuals. American Anesthesiology says the data breach is related to a June 2020 phishing incident discovered at MEDNAX Services Inc., a service provider of the anesthesiology practice.

American Anesthesiology and MEDNEX say compromised personal information may have included the following:

• Name
• Address
• Email address
• Date of birth
• State identification number
• Social security number
• Health insurance information
• Treatment information
• Prescription information
• Billing, payment, and claims information

How Does a Data Breach Happen?

• Phishing is a type of cyberattack where an email, phone call, or text message lures an individual into offering up sensitive personal data.
• Malware or ransomware is used to trick individuals into clicking links or opening toxic attachments on their computers. These kind of cyberattacks take data hostage, and the victims are extorted into paying to fix the security issue.
• Data theft can be a wide range of data leaks, such as a lack of encryption, poor passwords, and careless security practices.