On December 28, 2020, an unauthorized employee of Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, Northern California accessed members’ medical records without proper authorization. The breach, reported on February 23, 2021, involved the exposure of demographic information, including names and contact details of affected members. The incident was confirmed following an internal investigation, which identified the unauthorized access as an insider threat. While no financial or highly sensitive medical data (e.g., treatment records, diagnoses) was explicitly mentioned as compromised, the breach still posed risks related to privacy violations and potential misuse of personal identifiers. The exposure of such data could lead to targeted phishing, identity fraud, or reputational harm for both the affected individuals and the organization. Kaiser took corrective actions, including reporting the incident to the California Office of the Attorney General as required by data protection regulations.
Source: https://oag.ca.gov/ecrime/databreach/reports/sb24-538242
TPRM report: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/the-permanente-medical-group-inc.
"id": "the037091825",
"linkid": "the-permanente-medical-group-inc.",
"type": "Breach",
"date": "12/2020",
"severity": "60",
"impact": "3",
"explanation": "Attack with significant impact with internal employee data leaks"{'affected_entities': [{'industry': 'Healthcare',
'location': 'California, USA',
'name': 'Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, Northern '
'California',
'type': 'Healthcare Provider'}],
'attack_vector': 'Insider Threat',
'data_breach': {'personally_identifiable_information': 'Yes (names, contact '
'details)',
'sensitivity_of_data': 'Moderate (personally identifiable '
'information)',
'type_of_data_compromised': ['Demographic Information (names, '
'contact details)']},
'date_detected': '2020-12-28',
'date_publicly_disclosed': '2021-02-23',
'description': 'An employee of Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, Northern '
'California, accessed members’ medical records without proper '
'authorization on December 28, 2020. The breach involved '
'demographic information such as names and contact details. '
'The incident was reported to the California Office of the '
'Attorney General on February 23, 2021, following an internal '
'investigation confirming the unauthorized access.',
'impact': {'brand_reputation_impact': 'Potential reputational harm due to '
'unauthorized access of sensitive '
'member data',
'data_compromised': ['Demographic Information (names, contact '
'details)'],
'identity_theft_risk': 'Possible (due to exposure of personally '
'identifiable information)'},
'investigation_status': 'Completed (internal investigation confirmed '
'unauthorized access)',
'post_incident_analysis': {'root_causes': 'Insufficient access controls or '
'monitoring of employee activity '
'leading to unauthorized access of '
'medical records'},
'references': [{'date_accessed': '2021-02-23',
'source': 'California Office of the Attorney General'}],
'regulatory_compliance': {'regulations_violated': ['Potential HIPAA (Health '
'Insurance Portability and '
'Accountability Act) '
'violations'],
'regulatory_notifications': 'California Office of '
'the Attorney General'},
'response': {'communication_strategy': 'Reported to the California Office of '
'the Attorney General',
'incident_response_plan_activated': 'Yes (internal investigation '
'conducted)'},
'threat_actor': 'Internal Employee',
'title': 'Unauthorized Access to Kaiser Foundation Hospitals Medical Records',
'type': 'Data Breach (Unauthorized Access)'}