UCLA Health cyberattack could impact 4.5M

As many as 4.5 million individuals may have been impacted by a criminal cyberattack on UCLA Health.

The attackers accessed parts of the computer network that contain personal and medical information, but UCLA Health has no evidence that the cyber attacker actually accessed or acquired any individual’s personal or medical information, according to information on its website.

UCLA Health is working with investigators from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and has hired private computer forensic experts to further secure information on network servers.

UCLA Health detected suspicious activity in its network in October 2014 but determined that the attackers had not gained access to the parts of the network that contain personal and medical information. As part of that ongoing investigation, on May 5, UCLA Health determined that the attackers had accessed parts of the UCLA Health network that contain personal information such as names, addresses, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, medical record numbers, Medicare or health plan ID numbers and some medical information. Based on the continuing investigation, it appears that the attackers may have had access to these parts of the network as early as September 2014. 

The organization said it identifies and blocks millions of known hacker attempts each year but has now engaged the services of leading cyber-surveillance and security firms and expanded its internal security team.