Patients’ Data Stolen, Hospital Says

Even when you think that your data is safe from hackers, there are always other people who have access to your private identity information.

An employee of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan stole information from the records of as many as 40,000 patients, a hospital spokeswoman said on Friday.

The theft — which occurred over the past several years and included patients’ names, phone numbers and Social Security numbers — was discovered during a federal investigation, and the hospital was notified in January, the spokeswoman, Myrna Manners, said. An internal audit by the hospital confirmed the theft, she said.

The hospital does not believe that any medical information was stolen, Ms. Manners said, adding that there is no evidence that the stolen information has been used.

Investigators were looking into the possibility that the theft could be part of a larger criminal scheme, Ms. Manners said.

How do you stop this? Ummmm… maybe stop going to the doctor? As stated earlier in the course, a computer is a tool. How the tool is used is what’s the issue… you can’t stop bad guys from trying to be bad, but you can protect the information enough so that it makes it more difficult for the bad guys to get away with being bad.