First Choice Dental of Wisconsin yesterday confirmed it notified 227,287 people about an October 2023 data breach that exposed names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, driver’s license numbers, passport numbers, government ID numbers, credit and debit card numbers, financial account numbers, and health information.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack as of time of writing.
FCD’s notification indicates this was a ransomware attack. It reads, “On October 22, 2023, FCD detected a ransomware event on its network, whereby an unauthorized actor gained access to FCD’s network, encrypted some of FCD’s data, and attempted to extort a ransom payment.”
We don’t yet know how much ransom was demanded, whether FCD paid it, or how attackers breached FCD’s systems. Comparitech contacted FCD for comment and will update this article if it responds.
“Since the discovery of the incident, FCD moved quickly to secure our systems,” the notification reads. “Specifically, FCD added new intrusion detection and response tools; enhanced our data backup systems; upgraded our firewall; implemented additional multi-factor authentication requirements for network access; reset passwords and enhanced our password policy; and made additional changes to our network access policies.”
We recommend victims take advantage of the free credit monitoring service offered by FCD via MyTrueIdentity. The enrollment deadline is October 10, 2024.
Ransomware attacks on US healthcare
Hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare-related organizations are frequent targets for ransomware attacks. In addition to data theft, ransomware can disrupt key systems used for payments, making appointments, storing patient information, and more. Hospitals and clinics might be forced to cancel appointments and divert patients elsewhere, or resort to pen and paper until systems are restored.
We logged 136 attacks on US healthcare in 2023, affecting 23,053,715 records. These are the biggest figures we’ve seen in a single year since our reporting began in 2018.
So far this year, we’ve logged 38 confirmed attacks on US healthcare organizations, affecting 5,361,313 records. A further 92 attacks were claimed but not confirmed.
About First Choice Dental
Founded in 1996, First Choice Dental is a chain of 12 dental clinics in Wisconsin, covering Madison and surrounding Dane County. Its services include general dentistry, restorative care, orthodontics, cosmetic dentistry, and emergency care. According to its LinkedIn page, it has between 200 and 500 employees.