Ambry Genetics employee fell for phishing scam, exposing 233,000 patients’ data

Risk to Small Business: 1.373 = Extreme An employee failed to identify a phishing scam, interacting with the message and giving hackers access to patient data between January 22, 2020, and January 24, 2020. However, the incident wasn’t reported until March 22nd, as the company struggled to dedicate resources to cybersecurity while it transitioned to remote work. In total, the breach is the second largest healthcare breach of the year, and, although the company is updating its cybersecurity practices in response to the incident, they will need to navigate a challenging recovery process during a pandemic.

Individual Risk: 1.290 = Extreme Hackers had access to patient data, including names, medical information, genetic-specific information, and a limited amount of Social Security numbers. This information has a strong market on the Dark Web, and those impacted by the breach should take steps to guard themselves against medical or identity theft. To support victims, Ambry Genetics is offering free identity monitoring services for a year. Also, those impacted by the breach should monitor their digital communications for potential spear-phishing messages that could compromise additional data.