Health First, Inc.

Health First, Inc., a healthcare provider based in Rockledge, Florida, experienced a significant data breach on July 24, 2023. The incident involved unauthorized access to a Health First email account, which lasted for approximately 2 hours before being terminated by the Health First Information Security Department. This breach affected protected patient health information (PHI) of about 14,171 Health First patients. The compromised PHI may have included names, dates of birth, medical records numbers, account numbers, social security numbers, phone numbers, addresses, insurance information, diagnoses, and details of services received. Health First took immediate actions to terminate the unauthorized access, disable the affected account, and launched an investigation with the help of a third-party forensics vendor to confirm the findings. Measures were also taken to review and prevent similar incidents in the future. Affected individuals were notified of the breach, and Health First has provided contact information for patients seeking more information[1].

This incident is part of a concerning trend of cybersecurity threats targeting healthcare providers, underscoring the importance of robust security measures to protect sensitive patient information.

Citations:

1. https://spacecoastdaily.com/2023/09/notice-health-first-customers-to-be-notified-of-unauthorized-access-incident/
2. https://healthfirst.org/newsroom/healthfirst-reports-privacy-breach-impacting-1811-members
3. https://www.humana.com
4. https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/2018/11/12/42-000-customers-affected-health-first-data-breach/1979431002/
5. https://www.scmagazine.com/news/healthcare-vendor-reports-breach-from-2021-at-least-9-providers-impacted
6. https://www.northwell.edu
7. https://healthitsecurity.com/news/phishing-attacks-breach-data-of-42k-florida-patients-for-3-months
8. https://www.databreachtoday.com
9. https://abingtonlaw.com/Health-First-Data-Breach-class-action-lawsuit.html
10. https://www.multiplan.us
11. https://www.paubox.com/blog/health-first-suffers-hipaa-email-breach
12. https://www.nbcnews.com
13. https://bergermontague.com/health-first-false-claims-act-settlement/
14. https://krebsonsecurity.com
15. https://www.wftv.com/news/local/data-breach-affects-42k-health-first-customers/872235812/
16. https://ufhealthjax.org
17. https://news.bloomberglaw.com
18. https://www.hrw.org