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A major lab testing company Quest Diagnostics has become the victim of a hack attack and data breach. The company revealed that in November it suffered an “intrusion” due to which personal details of about 34,000 people were stolen. The hack attack occurred on 26th November and as soon as the company identified the intrusion, they immediately started investigating the matter.
It is worth nothing that Quest Diagnostics Nichols Institute is the leading facilitator of prenatal and genetic mutation tests located outside of San Juan Capistrano, California.
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On Monday, Quest Diagnostics announced in a press release that one of the apps on their network called MyQuest by Care 360 was targeted by an unauthorized third-party and the hack was successful. The intrusion affected the Protected Health Information (PHI) database and the attackers managed to obtain personal data of roughly 34,000 people.
The company’s spokesperson identified that affected individuals have already been informed through email. Currently, there is no proof that the stolen data has been misused or leaked online by the hacker(s).
As per the details revealed by Quest Diagnostics, the stolen data includes personal details such as date of birth, name, lab test results and phone number.
However, it was clarified by the clinical laboratory services provider that the hackers could not steal critical financial data such as credit card numbers, insurance/financial/social security numbers and similar other data that could have led to fake transactions conducted in the person’s name or identity theft.
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“The accessed data included name, date of birth, lab results, and in some instances, telephone numbers. The information did not include Social Security numbers, credit card information, insurance or other financial information,” explained the company in its press release.
To prevent similar attacks from affecting the company’s operations and reputation in the future, Quest Diagnostics is trying to improve its network security measures in collaboration with a renowned cyber-security firm.
As soon as the data breach was announced, Quest Diagnostics’ stock fell to less than 1% in extended trade. Let’s wait and watch what the ongoing internal investigation would reveal about the hack attack.
Medical institution and Laboratories have become a prime target for hackers. Previously, Central Ohio Urology Group (COUG) suffered a massive data breach in which 223GB of personal data of patients and staff was stolen and leaked by Ukrainian hackers.
Meanwhile, the tale of ransomware attacks on medical and healthcare facilities is entirely another dark chapter of cyber attacks.
