On November 14, 2023, the Medical College of Wisconsin (“MCW”) filed a notice of data breach with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights after discovering that information that had been entrusted to the organization was subject to unauthorized access. In this notice, MCW explains that the incident resulted in an unauthorized party being able to access consumers’ sensitive information. Upon completing its investigation, MCW began sending out data breach notification letters to all individuals whose information was affected by the recent data security incident.

If you received a data breach notification from the Medical College of Wisconsin, it is essential you understand what is at risk and what you can do about it. A data breach lawyer can help you learn more about how to protect yourself from becoming a victim of fraud or identity theft, as well as discuss your legal options following the Medical College of Wisconsin data breach. For more information, please see our recent piece on the topic here.

What Caused the Medical College of Wisconsin Data Breach?

The Medical College of Wisconsin data breach was only recently announced, and more information is expected in the near future. However, MCW’s filing with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights only provides limited information on what led up to the breach.

According to this source, on November 14, 2023, MCW filed notice of a data breach affecting 240,667 with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights. Evidently, the incident involved a “hacking / IT incident” that targeted a network server. However, it is unclear whether the incident targeted MCW’s network or whether hackers were able to obtain MCW data by attacking one of MCW’s vendors.

Regardless, after learning that sensitive consumer data was accessible to an unauthorized party, the Medical College of Wisconsin reviewed the compromised files to determine what information was leaked and which consumers were impacted.

On November 14, 2023, filed notice of the incident with the HHS-OCR. While this notice does not indicate whether data breach letters have been sent out, chances are they either were sent out previously or will be sent out in the near future. These letters should provide victims with a list of what information belonging to them was compromised.

More Information About Medical College of Wisconsin

Founded in 1893, Medical College of Wisconsin is an educational institution located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. MCW has a student body of approximately 1,600, and the facility's hospital treats an average of 5.1 million patients each year. Medical College of Wisconsin employs more than 1,270 people and generates approximately $1.4 billion in annual revenue.