Yale New Haven Health Reports Major Data Breach Affecting Millions
Yale New Haven Health System (YNHHS), a prominent healthcare network in Connecticut affiliated with Yale University, has disclosed a massive data breach that compromised the personal data of over 5.5 million individuals.
The breach was discovered on March 8, following suspicious activity detected in its IT systems. According to a statement released on April 11, hackers successfully accessed and copied sensitive information on the same day the breach was identified.
Although patient care remained unaffected, the stolen data may include patients’ names, dates of birth, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, race or ethnicity, Social Security numbers, and medical record numbers. YNHHS clarified that its main electronic medical record system and financial or HR data were not compromised.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services confirmed the breach in its healthcare data breach tracker, listing YNHHS among the most significant incidents affecting millions. While no cybercrime group has claimed responsibility, the nature of the attack suggests it could be linked to ransomware. In such cases, organizations often face pressure to pay ransoms to prevent data leaks.
Healthcare breaches have become alarmingly frequent, with over 700 incidents reported in 2023 alone—impacting more than 180 million records across the U.S.
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