Recently, Norwood Clinic confirmed that the company was the target of a cyberattack resulting in the sensitive information of certain patients being compromised.
If you received a data breach notification, it is essential you understand what is at risk. More about our investigation into this breach, and what you can do if your data was stolen, is available here.
Last year, 1,862 data breaches affected more than 189 million people. On average, victims of identity theft spend 200 hours and over $1,300 recovering their identity. Many victims also suffer emotional distress, credit damage, and may even end up with a criminal record. Taking immediate action is the best way to prevent the worst consequences of a data breach.
What We Know So Far About the Norwood Clinic Data Breach
Norwood Clinic is a healthcare clinic based in Fultondale, Alabama. The clinic was founded by local Birmingham, AL doctor, Charles N. Carraway in 1926. Currently, Norwood Clinic employs 27 physicians practicing in 17 different specialties, including bariatric surgery, family medicine, internal medicine, neurological spine surgery, ophthalmology, pathology, pulmonary, robotic general surgery, sleep medicine, surgery, wound care.
According to an official filing by Norwood Clinic, on October 22, 2021, the clinic learned that an unauthorized party gained access to certain data stored on its computer networks. In response, the company secured its network and launched an internal investigation to determine the nature and extent of the incident. The investigation revealed that the files accessible by the unauthorized party contained certain patients’ sensitive information.
Norwood Clinic then engaged in a review of all affected files to identify those individuals whose information was accessible to the unauthorized party. Ultimately, the clinic determined that, while the compromised data varies by patient, it includes affected patients’:
Names,
Contact information,
Dates of birth,
Social Security numbers,
Driver’s License numbers,
Certain health information, and
Health insurance policy numbers.
Around March 8, 2022, Norwood Clinic began sending out data breach notification letters to all individuals whose information was compromised as a result of the recent data security incident. The Norwood Clinic data breach is believed to have affected as many as 228,103 patients.
More About the Causes and Risks of Data Breaches
Often, data breaches are the result of a hacker gaining unauthorized access to a company’s computer systems with the intention of obtaining sensitive consumer information. While no one can know the reason why a hacker targeted Norwood Clinic, it is common for hackers and other criminals to identify those companies believed to have weak data security systems or vulnerabilities in their networks.
Once a cybercriminal gains access to a computer network, they can then access and remove any data stored on the compromised servers. While in most cases a company experiencing a data breach can identify which files were accessible, there may be no way for the company to tell which files the hacker actually accessed or whether they removed any data.
While the fact that your information was compromised in a data breach does not necessarily mean it will be used for criminal purposes, being the victim of a data breach puts your sensitive data in the hands of an unauthorized person. As a result, you are at an increased risk of identity theft and other frauds, and criminal use of your information is a possibility that should not be ignored.
Given this reality, individuals who receive a Norwood Clinic data breach notification should take the situation seriously and remain vigilant in checking for any signs of unauthorized activity. Businesses like Norwood Clinic are responsible for protecting the consumer data in their possession. If evidence emerges that Norwood Clinic failed to adequately protect your sensitive information, you may be eligible for financial compensation through a data breach lawsuit.
What Are Consumers’ Remedies in the Wake of the Norwood Clinic Data Breach?
When customers decided to do business with Norwood Clinic, they assumed that the company would take their privacy concerns seriously. And it goes without saying that consumers would think twice before giving a company access to their information if they knew it wasn’t going to be secure. Thus, data breaches such as this one raise questions about the adequacy of a company’s data security system.
When a business, government entity, non-profit organization, school, or any other organization accepts and stores consumer data, it also accepts a legal obligation to ensure this information remains private. The United States data breach laws allow consumers to pursue civil data breach claims against organizations that fail to protect their information.
Of course, given the recency of the Norwood Clinic data breach, the investigation into the incident is still in its early stages. And, as of right now, there is not yet any evidence suggesting Norwood Clinic is legally responsible for the breach. However, that could change as additional information about the breach and its causes is revealed.
If you have questions about your ability to bring a data breach class action lawsuit against Norwood Clinic, reach out to a data breach attorney as soon as possible.
What Should You Do if You Receive a Norwood Clinic Data Breach Notification?
If Norwood Clinic sends you a data breach notification letter, you are among those whose information was compromised in the recent breach. While this isn’t a time to panic, the situation warrants your attention. Below are a few important steps you can take to protect yourself from identity theft and other fraudulent activity:
Identify What Information Was Compromised: The first thing to do after learning of a data breach is to carefully review the data breach letter sent. The letter will tell you what information of yours was accessible to the unauthorized party. Be sure to make a copy of the letter and keep it for your records. If you have trouble understanding the letter or what steps you can take to protect yourself, a data breach lawyer can help.
Limit Future Access to Your Accounts: Once you determine what information of yours was affected by the breach, the safest play is to assume that the hacker orchestrating the attack stole your data. While this may not be the case, it’s better to be safe than sorry. To prevent future access to your accounts, you should change all passwords and security questions for any online account. This includes online banking accounts, credit card accounts, online shopping accounts, and any other account containing your personal information. You should also consider changing your social media account passwords and setting up multi-factor authentication where it is available.
Protect Your Credit and Your Financial Accounts: After a data breach, companies often provide affected parties with free credit monitoring services. Signing up for the free credit monitoring offers some significant protections and doesn’t impact any of your rights to pursue a data breach lawsuit against the company if it turns out they were legally responsible for the breach. You should contact a credit bureau to request a copy of your credit report—even if you do not notice any signs of fraud or unauthorized activity. Adding a fraud alert to your account will provide you with additional protection.
Consider Implementing a Credit Freeze: A credit freeze prevents anyone from accessing your credit report. Credit freezes are free and stay in effect until you remove them. Once a credit freeze is in place, you can temporarily lift the freeze if you need to apply for any type of credit. While placing a credit freeze on your accounts may seem like overkill, given the risks involved, it’s justified. According to the Identity Theft Resource Center (“ITRC”), placing a credit freeze on your account is the “single most effective way to prevent a new credit/financial account from being opened.” However, just 3% of data breach victims place a freeze on their accounts.
Regularly Monitor Your Credit Report and Financial Accounts: Protecting yourself in the wake of a data breach requires an ongoing effort on your part. You should regularly check your credit report and all financial account statements, looking for any signs of unauthorized activity or fraud. You should also call your banks and credit card companies to report the fact that your information was compromised in a data breach.
Below is a copy of the initial data breach letter issued by Norwood Clinic:
Dear [Consumer],
We are writing to inform you of a data security incident which affected Norwood Clinic (“Norwood”), a large multispecialty medical group practicing in Alabama. The data security incident may have resulted in the potential compromise of some of your personal data. While we have no indication that your information has been misused, this letter contains information about the incident and information about how to protect your personal information going forward. Norwood considers the protection of sensitive information a top priority, and sincerely apologizes for any inconvenience as a result of the incident.
What Happened
On October 22, 2021, Norwood discovered that it was the victim of a cyber attack that resulted in the unauthorized access of data stored on its network. Immediately after discovering the incident, Norwood took steps to secure and safely restore its systems and operations. In addition, Norwood engaged cybersecurity experts to conduct a thorough forensics investigation to determine the nature and scope of the incident and to assist in the remediation efforts. The investigation revealed that an unauthorized party gained access to Norwood’s servers that stored patient information. However, the investigation was unable to confirm the specific information that may have been accessed. Therefore, out of an abundance of caution, Norwood is providing notice to all of its patients, regardless of whether their information was in fact subject to unauthorized access or acquisition. Norwood has no reason to believe that any individual’s information has been misused as a result of this event.
What Information Was Involved
While we have no reason to believe that your information has been misused as a result of this incident, we are notifying you out of an abundance of caution and for purposes of full transparency. Based on the investigation, the unauthorized party may have had access to your name, contact information, date of birth, Social Security number, Driver’s License number, limited health information, and/or health insurance policy number. However, please note that the information did not include any individual’s financial account information, debit or credit card numbers.
What We Are Doing
The security and privacy of patient information contained within Norwood’s systems is a top priority, and Norwood is taking additional measures to protect this information. Since the incident, Norwood has continued to strengthen its security posture by adding the following security controls: revising email settings and policies, updating and modifying network security technical hardware, adding additional password complexity rules, and instituting additional secure login mechanisms for all accounts.
We are also providing you with twelve (12) months of complimentary credit monitoring, dark web monitoring and up to $1,000,000 in identity theft protection. Norwood strongly encourages you to take advantage of these services. More information on how to sign up for the services can be found below.
What You Can Do
We encourage you to remain vigilant against incidents of identity theft and fraud, to review your account statements, and to monitor your credit reports for suspicious or unauthorized activity. Additionally, security experts suggest that you contact your financial institution and all major credit bureaus to inform them of such a breach and then take whatever steps are recommended to protect your interests, including the possible placement of a fraud alert on your credit file.
Please review the enclosed Additional Important Information, to learn more about how to protect against the possibility of information misuse.
The protection of your information is a top priority, and we sincerely regret any concern or inconvenience that this matter may cause. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call Norwood’s dedicated toll-free helpline at 1-833-770-0832 Monday through Friday between 8:00 am to 8:00 pm Eastern, excluding holidays. Representatives are available for 90 days.
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