A sign outside the Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington. (Stars and Stripes)
(Tribune News Service) — The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced Friday that its Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is sending letters to 2,302 veterans notifying them of the “potential disclosure of protected health information.”
Officials say hundreds of military veterans in Minnesota are among thousands around the country who had their health information targeted by a cyber security attack.
The VA said the attack victimized a server managed by DBP Inc., a private medical transcription vendor based in Detroit. DBP representatives were not immediately available Friday to respond to the VA’s announcement.
The affected documents contained some or all the following information, according to the VA: full name, medical record information and Social Security number.
“VHA employees conducted a thorough investigation,” the VA announcement said, “and determined this cyber security attack did not affect any medical record information in the VA electronic health records.”
The cyber sleuths encrypted the DBP-retained records before they were potentially copied, the VA said. In response, DBP shut down and disconnected its server from the internet to prevent further attacks, bought new hardware and implemented new security controls on its equipment, according to the VA.
Minnesota veterans’ records targeted totaled 616, the VA said. Only the VA’s health care system in Amarillo, Texas, had more veterans’ health data affected (1,069).
Veterans with questions or concerns can call and leave a message at 1-844-838-5433 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Calls will be returned within two business days.
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