Hackers theft of credit card info impacts 7K in SC
Hackers stole the credit card information of approximately 7,000 patients or other financially responsible people of The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC).
During the first week of September, some of the 7,000 people received automated telephone calls alerting them to the theft. The facility's contracted credit card processing firm, Blackhawk Consulting Group, informed them of the theft on Aug. 22.
“Based on the information available now, no patient medical record information was accessed during the theft,” according to a MUSC statement. “It seems the goal of the intrusion was to steal financial information which included names, billing addresses, credit card numbers and expiration dates, credit card authorization numbers and email addresses.
Hackers took information when patients or other financially responsible individuals made payments online and via phone or mail between June 30 and Aug. 21. Blackhawk has reported the theft to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and will pay for one year of fraud protection services.
Editor Beth earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s in health communication. She has worked in hospital, academic and publishing settings over the past 20 years. Beth joined TriMed in 2005, as editor of CMIO and Clinical Innovation + Technology. When not covering all things related to health IT, she spends time with her husband and three children.