On January 5, 2024, Moses Lake Community Health Center (“MLCHC”) filed a notice of data breach with the Attorney General of Washington after discovering that an unauthorized party had gained access to two employee email accounts. In this notice, MLCHC explains that the incident resulted in an unauthorized party being able to access consumers’ sensitive information, which includes their names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, driver’s license numbers, employee health insurance information, patient identification numbers, and medical information. Upon completing its investigation, MLCHC 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 Moses Lake Community Health Center, 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 Moses Lake Community Health Center data breach. For more information, please see our recent piece on the topic here.
What Caused the Moses Lake Community Health Center Data Breach?
The Moses Lake Community Health Center data breach was only recently announced, and more information is expected soon. However, MLCHC’s filing with the Attorney General of Washington provides some important information on what led up to the breach. According to this source, on September 14, 2023, MLCHC identified a potential data security incident related to an employee email account. Evidently, on that day, MLCHC learned that an employee’s email account had been the target of a cyberattack. MLCHC learned about this when the unauthorized party created fraudulent invoices impersonating existing vendors while trying to obtain payment on them using the breached email account.
In response, MLCHC secured its network and then launched an investigation. On September 19, 2023, MLCHC learned that a second employee email account had been breached. While no employees or patients were affected by the unauthorized transactions, the hackers were able to access confidential employee and patient information between July 26, 2023 and September 19, 2023.
After learning that sensitive consumer data was accessible to an unauthorized party, Moses Lake Community Health Center reviewed the compromised files to determine what information was leaked and which consumers were impacted. MLCHC completed this process on December 13, 2023. While the breached information varies depending on the individual, it may include your name, Social Security number, date of birth, driver’s license number, employee health insurance information, patient identification number, and medical information.
On January 8, 2024, Moses Lake Community Health Center sent out data breach letters to anyone who was affected by the recent data security incident. These letters should provide victims with a list of what information belonging to them was compromised.
More Information About Moses Lake Community Health Center
Founded in 1978, originally as a regional dental clinic, Moses Lake Community Health Center is a dental and healthcare services provider based out of Moses Lake, Washington. MLCHC operates four locations: Moses Lake Community Health Center, Quincy Community Health Center, Ephrata Community Dental Clinic, and Quincy Student Health & Wellness Center. Moses Lake Community Health Center employs more than 220 people and generates approximately $29 million in annual revenue.
