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RE: LeoThread 2024-10-25 09:33

How the ransomware attack at Change Healthcare went down: A timeline

A hack on UnitedHealth-owned tech giant Change Healthcare likely stands as one of the biggest data breaches of U.S. medical data in history.

A ransomware attack earlier this year on UnitedHealth-owned health tech company Change Healthcare likely stands as one of the largest data breaches of U.S. health and medical data in history.

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Months after the February data breach, a “substantial proportion of people living in America” are receiving notice by mail that their personal and health information was stolen by cybercriminals during the cyberattack on Change Healthcare. At least 100 million people are now known to be affected by the breach.

Change Healthcare processes billing and insurance for hundreds of thousands of hospitals, pharmacies and medical practices across the U.S. healthcare sector. As such, it collects and stores vast amounts of highly sensitive medical data on patients in the United States. Through a series of mergers and acquisitions, Change became one of the largest processors of U.S. health data, handling between one-third and one-half of all U.S. health transactions.

Change Healthcare Data Breach: What to Know for Your Social Security Number and More

If you got a notification about the Change Healthcare data breach that happened in February, there are some steps you should take.

It's been a scary year for protecting your personal information. A breach at AT&T announced this summer impacted nearly all customers — not to be confused with another AT&T data breach disclosed this spring. There was a breach at Roku and a settlement for Cash App customers after data breaches. And last month, a cyberattack at National Public Data was confirmed.

It's hard to keep track of where your data is at risk, making me feel a bit like a cartoon character figuring out which hole to plug next. Amidst all of that, there was also a data breach at Change Healthcare, which is owned by UnitedHealth. This impacted a massive amount of people; an exact number hasn't been indicated, but Change Healthcare says "the impacted data could cover a substantial proportion of people in America," and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) noted the cyberattack's "unprecedented magnitude."

While the Change Healthcare data breach took place in February, people started getting notifications about it in late summer and into the fall. Whether you got a letter or not, there are some action items you should take to protect your identity and finances. Here's what you need to know about the Change Healthcare breach.