DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
32 comments:
We received same notice for my wife and two of my kids
I just received the same notice to today about my daughter.
ARE THEY GONNA NOTIFY THE PATIENTS??
Anon1250 - They lost the paperwork... probably don't even know who it was!
I got a letter today and called them. They told me the tapes were stolen out of an employees car.
I asked them if they new anything
about HIPPA laws or violations.
They wouldn't respond. How and why did an employee put the backup tapes in an unattended vehicle.
Is the employee still working for these idiots? I finally called my
lawyer , he is on the western shore thank God. The lawyers here are all in bed with the doctors.
$h!t happens, they have someone working for them that is an expert in identity theft so I'm sure they are doing everything they can to help. Why does everyone jump to call lawyers today?! And no I don't go there anymore, not after they botched a surgery of mine. (But I never called a lawyer about that either, just wanted it fixed!)
I understand that they are obligated to pay for any damages. I wonder if they will be paying for Fraud Alerts to be put on all the accounts of the affected people?
1:24
That's why sh!t happens , because
you don't call a lawyer. You idiot!
Generally, fraud alerts don't cost money. My husband info was compromised at one time and the social security admin and credit bureaus did not charge to put alerts on those account. they even called us whenever anyone attempted to apply for credit in his name. all at no charge
which doctor there did a botch surgery on u?
According to the letter my wife read to me, the tape files were somewhat encripted, said that your ordinary joe won't be able to read. Who ever stole them probably didnt even know what they were getting.
Guess I will be seeing just how well my Life-Lock membership works pretty soon.
WHAT??????? That story doesn't make sense. What kind of thief is going to steal tapes? I'm sure they were a special type of "tape" for use with a specific program, not cassette tapes (who would even steal them???). This is either a cover up or more to the story.
The tapes were probably in a bag or briefcase or something that looked like it was worthwhile stealing. They're probably in the landfill by now.
Yippie! Let's all complain about doctors!!
We got the same letter today with specific instructions on who to call for Fraud alerts. Can't get through to these agencies..it's all automated. I called Peninsula Ortho. to verify this is in fact real.. I was told yes and quickly told to call the agency that sent out the letters. Scary for sure. My daughter hasn't seen these doctors in over 10 years nor have I.
For the safety of the information, back up tapes are taken home by an employee every night. Just incase there is a fire at the office. Many businesses do this. Not just this office.
Information is encrypted. Average Joe most certainly cannot read the info. The doctors office is following usual protocal for computer back up information.
Everyone needs to calm down. Some little thug probably broke into the car and stole a briefcase. I am impressed they have notified their patients. They typically would not have to unless there was proof the information was hacked.
5:01
backup tapes are taken home by employees , you are right. But
don't leave them in your car , how stupid is that!Whoever this was , fire them , then file charges!
They have cost this company many
dollars and put a burden on a lot
of people. I don't want to know who is responsible.(talk about pissed)
Got the same letter for my daughter and her dad. My daughter was just there this past September/October but he hasn't been there for over 20 years. Now that is keeping records. Same thing happened to us with John Hopkins records. Thank goodness nothing came out of that one.
My Wife's Identity was stolen. We received a call yesterday from WalMart telling us they just found one of her credit cards. She has never shopped at this store they called from and she never had a credit card from this company. Looks like they screwed with the wrong Family!
Thanks for this blog. I wasn't sure if this was real or not when I just opened my mail. At least I am not alone.
Chill folks. At least they told you what happened and the risk seems low -- you should worry more about what other companies DON'T tell you about leaked information -- often with their full knowledge. And from what I understand, that group is doing a very standard preventative practice to make sure data is not lost if catastrophie hits.
This is the second time in 2 weeks my information has been "compromised". I work for the state and about 8,000 state employees have had their info lost, too. It was very easy to call the credit bureaus and have the fraud alert placed and it does not cost anything.
Well, they apparently got my and my wifes records off the tapes. I had surgery on my shoulder a few years ago. Guess I better watch my credit bills closely, which I do anyway. This is a real bad situation.
WE got the same letter. Mis-management, pure and simple. Yeah, someone stole those back-up tapes, but what precautions were taken to ensure their safety and security in the first place?
We received a similar letter from another company a couple of years ago. Instead of simply telling us about the incident and basically saying "good luck" as these folks have done, they offered to pay for a credit report monitoring service for a year to ensure our sanctity.
This is the least that should have been offered by Peninsula orthopedics.
One last thought: I subscribe to a service that backs up my data automatically every day, to a secure off site server. Much safer than anyone carrying discs, tapes, or flash drives, which can be mishandled or "lost"
Maybe PO should consider changing their protocols.
I received the same letter. By what I am reading on this blog it seems to be a legitimate letter. Is this definitely true?
That's why I got Life-Lock, because everybody wants my money.
I got the letter too, and was basically blown off when I called.
The encryption on the tapes is nothing that a computer-savvy high school kid couldn't figure out, so don't let them tell you that the info is safe.
They were most definitely stolen for the info, not because they were in a bag that looked good.
WHY were the TAPES in someone's car?????
Don't offices have LOCKED up files? They should be in a safe, under lock & key!
And yet you MUST give your "social" to every Tom Dick & Harry who asks for it.
So much for maintaining privacy!
Wait, soon your medical records will be on the internet cause that's where bho wants 'em.
The stolen databases contained names, addresses, ss #, birthdate, employer, insurance provider and id numbers. A tech savvy thief could have a field day with that information! And I don't think your average thief would bother taking something like this.
Why would an employee have physical custody of sensitive backup files, and leave them in a vehicle? The employee was supposedly transferring the files from the office to its off-site storage facility. Obviously there was a stop in between those two places. Were the files stolen from an employee's driveway, or a parking lot somewhere? The woman I spoke to did not have access to that information. No surprise there. When I tried to determine the date of the actual incident (I had unauthorized charges on a credit account and it is currently under a fraud investigation) the woman I spoke with did not have that information, either. The support center personnel basically just reiterated the information in the letter without providing any "support."
While I appreciate Peninsula Orthopaedics informing us of this security breech, I'm disappointed that was the extent of their action. Like another commenter, I have known companies to provide free credit agency monitoring when they experienced a breech in security that led to client's personal information being compromised. To inform me that an employee in your organization lost my personal information to a thief and then tell me the myriad ways I can protect myself is insulting.
I am not sure that an employee taking back up tapes home every day is part of standard practice for businesses....especially with HIPPA. Working with server back-ups is part of my job adn I would never, ever do that. In fact, I would expect strong action to be taken against me. There are other options available for securing back-up tapes. Someone needs to do their homework a little better.
dogg
If my identy gets stolen Im going to OP and ...!
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