Covenant HealthCare Notifies Patients of Possible Data Breach

Covenant Healthcare in Saginaw affected by compromised employee email accounts.

Over 45,000 patients within Covenant HealthCare in Saginaw could be affected by a possible data breach. Back in May of 2020, two employees at Covenant HealthCare had compromised email accounts that contained personal information like names, Social Security numbers, and more.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation discovered that login information to Covenant's network was being sold by someone on the dark web. However, hospital officials are currently unaware of any reports of identity theft, fraud, or improper use of patient's information after completing an extensive audit in December.

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The more than 45,000 patients that were potentially affected were sent a letter about the situation. That letter contained specific steps and directions to contact Covenant HealthCare's breach response hotline.

For those patients that are concerned for the safety of their information, don't worry, the hospital has taken steps to tighten security. The hospital has added multifactor authentication which adds several steps to gain access to the network.

Unfortunately, something similar happened with Covenant HealthCare back in September of 2018. The hospital underwent a software attack that potentially exposed some personal information of patients.

Being hacked or stolen from is the worst feeling ever. Just last year, at the start of the pandemic, I had one of my accounts hacked and charges made on multiple cards of mine. It wasn't the end of the world as the thieves only stole a few hundred dollars, most of which I was able to get back. The time it took to straighten everything out was the real problem. It took the better part of 5 months to get all my accounts back in order associated with those cards and to get my money back.

Source: ABC 12