TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A recent cyber attack hampered Florida’s health department. To combat the effects, the Florida Department of Health is offering free credit monitoring and identity theft protection.
The Department has started sending notification letters in the mail to those potentially affected.
The Florida Department of Health, in partnership with Kroll, is offering affected people free credit monitoring and identity theft protection services for a full year. The services include credit monitoring, web monitoring, $1 million identity fraud loss reimbursement, fraud consultation, and identity theft restoration.
News of the Florida Health data hack came early in July. Since then, the department has worked to lock down its systems while the hacking group responsible says it’s released tens of thousands of patient files online.
Florida Health’s online Vital Statistics System, which manages birth and death certificates and plenty more, was shut down last month after what the department called an attack “perpetrated by a criminal hacking organization.”
That group— RansomHub— said it grabbed 100 gigs of Florida Health data and held it hostage, seeking a large payout. RansomHub later said it released the files online, allegedly compromising patient information for thousands.
In a recent statement, Florida Health officials said, “Any affected parties will be notified as a comprehensive assessment of the situation is completed.” Also “certain systems were proactively brought offline to strengthen security measures and bolster monitoring.”
That likely includes Vital Statistics, which has hamstrung operations for Florida funeral homes. Some spoke to ABC Action News in July. Funeral directors said it created a work backlog as they’ve had to certify the death certificates manually. What used to take 7-10 days is now up to 14-21 days in some places.
In a statement, FDLE said: “Health agencies across the world are facing this type of ongoing cyber threat and FDLE agents are quickly and carefully investigating the incident to ensure the criminals responsible are held accountable. Our investigation is active.”
Anyone who does not receive a letter but thinks they still may have been affected can call 866-997-1602.
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