Retina & Vitreous of Texas, PLLC

Retina & Vitreous of Texas, PLLC, a medical practice specializing in vitreoretinal care, experienced a significant data security breach that was first identified on February 1, 2023, when unusual activity was detected within its network. This led to the discovery of unauthorized access to the system. The breach involved sensitive personal identifiable information and protected health information of an undetermined number of individuals.

The compromised data included names, addresses, Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, health insurance information, and medical information

The incident was severe enough to prompt an investigation by Turke & Strauss LLP, a leading data breach law firm

On April 10, Retina & Vitreous of Texas issued a press release about the security incident, revealing that personal and protected health information might have been acquired without authorization

This incident was later identified as a ransomware attack by the BianLian threat actors, who dumped approximately 170 GB of files, including protected health information of patients, financial data of the practice, and human resources files on the dark web. The breach affected 35,766 patients

Retina & Vitreous of Texas took immediate steps to investigate the activity and secure the environment upon discovering the breach. They also undertook a thorough review to identify all potentially affected individuals and the nature of the information involved. The review was completed on March 21, 2023

The practice has notified potentially impacted individuals and provided resources to assist them, including recommendations for protecting personal information and offering free credit monitoring services

The privacy and protection of personal and protected health information are stated to be a top priority for Retina & Vitreous of Texas