NorthStar Anesthesia northstaranesthesia.com NorthStar Anesthesia data breach: what happened and what to do
Phishing gave an unauthorized person access to NorthStar Anesthesia employee email accounts between April 3 and May 24, 2018. HHS lists about 20,000 people. Exposed data included names, dates of birth, insurance and treatment details, and for some people Social Security numbers.
View all 13,177 breaches- Breach date
- 3 Apr 2018
- Made public
- 20 Jul 2018
- Affected
- 19,807
- Data exposed
- Names, Dates of birth, Health insurance information, Medical information, Treatment information, Social security numbers
- Last updated
Reviewed by Anthon Wansland
Head of Product & Co-Founder
Serus is a privacy company with paid tools to find and remove your personal data. This page is free and based on official sources.
NorthStar Anesthesia is a physician-owned anesthesia practice based in Texas. In July 2018 it published a notice of a data privacy event after a phishing campaign compromised employee email accounts.
What happened
According to the company's notice, an unauthorized person had access to certain employee email accounts between April 3 and May 24, 2018. NorthStar learned about the phishing campaign in late May. It mailed letters to the people who might have been affected and dated its public notice July 20, 2018.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' breach portal lists 19,807 people. HHS's case summary says NorthStar improved its safeguards, updated its policies and trained staff after the incident, and that the company notified HHS, affected people and the media.
Sources checked: biospace.com, beckersasc.com, ocrportal.hhs.gov
Last verified against the official page:
What was exposed
Email accounts held patient information. The notice lists names, dates of birth, health insurance details, medical history and treatment information. For certain people it may also have included a Social Security number.
What that means for you
Treatment details and insurance information are what scammers use to make calls and texts sound like they come from a provider or insurer. They also fuel medical identity theft, where someone uses your insurance to get care or file claims. Where a Social Security number was involved, credit fraud becomes a real risk too.
NorthStar offered affected people two years of free credit monitoring and set up a dedicated assistance line. If you had anesthesia care at a practice served by NorthStar around 2018 and got a letter, the steps below apply to you.
What to do if you were in it
- 1
Freeze your credit at all three bureaus
A credit freeze stops new accounts from being opened in your name. It's free, and you place it separately with Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. The FTC explains how in its guide to credit freezes and fraud alerts.
- 2
Check your explanation of benefits
Read what your health insurer sends you. Report care or claims you don't recognize to the insurer. The FTC's data breach guidance covers exposed health information.
- 3
Read your statements and credit reports
Look for charges or accounts you don't recognize. You can get your free credit reports at AnnualCreditReport.com. If something is wrong, report it at IdentityTheft.gov, the FTC's reporting site.
- 4
Treat messages that mention the breach with suspicion
Criminals send fake notices that use real breach details. Don't click links or call numbers in an unexpected email, text or letter. Go to the company's website yourself, or use a phone number you already trust.
- 5
Check whether your email or phone number shows up in this and other breaches
A free Serus scan checks your email and phone number against breach databases and tells you what to do about anything it finds. Serus can't remove data from a breach, but it alerts you when new exposures appear.
Official filings
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services , filed 20 Jul 2018 : 19,807 people
Timeline
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The breach happened
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The company made it public
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Reported to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Frequently asked
Was I affected by the NorthStar Anesthesia breach?
NorthStar mailed letters to the people it believes were affected. If you didn't get one and want certainty, contact the practice that treated you.
What was exposed in the NorthStar Anesthesia breach?
Names, dates of birth, health insurance details, medical history and treatment information, and for certain people a Social Security number.
Is there credit monitoring?
NorthStar offered affected people two years of free credit monitoring in 2018. If you received a letter, check whether the offer is still open.
Should I freeze my credit?
If your Social Security number may have been exposed, the FTC recommends considering a free credit freeze.
Sources
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