Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

SecurityWeekSecurityWeek

Cybercrime

Data on California Prisons’ Visitors, Staff, Inmates Exposed

California corrections officials said Monday that there has been a potential exposure of medical information for employees and visitors who were tested for the coronavirus, although they have not found any improper use despite the data breach.

California corrections officials said Monday that there has been a potential exposure of medical information for employees and visitors who were tested for the coronavirus, although they have not found any improper use despite the data breach.

The data was for people who were tested for COVID-19 in the department between June 2020 and last January.

The testing data did not include inmates, but the resulting investigation uncovered the potential release of mental health and financial information for some inmates going back to 2008.

The department’s Mental Health Service Delivery System includes inmates’ names and treatment information. A system that tracks inmates’ financial accounts also may have been breached, and drivers’ license and Social Security numbers for parolees in substance use disorder treatment programs may have also been exposed.

Investigators found in June that “someone or something entered the system without permission,” but said there is no indication anyone viewed or copied the information.

Officials said they are notifying those potentially exposed now that the investigation is completed. It also set up toll-free information numbers and posted information online.

The problem was limited to one computer system and officials don’t know who was responsible. They have switched to a new system with more security controls.

Related: Ransomware Attack Locks Down US Prison

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

Related: Private Prison Operator GEO Group Discloses Data Breach

Written By

Click to comment

Trending

Daily Briefing Newsletter

Subscribe to the SecurityWeek Email Briefing to stay informed on the latest threats, trends, and technology, along with insightful columns from industry experts.

Join the session as we discuss the challenges and best practices for cybersecurity leaders managing cloud identities.

Register

SecurityWeek’s Ransomware Resilience and Recovery Summit helps businesses to plan, prepare, and recover from a ransomware incident.

Register

Expert Insights

Related Content

Cybercrime

The changing nature of what we still generally call ransomware will continue through 2023, driven by three primary conditions.

Cybercrime

A recently disclosed vBulletin vulnerability, which had a zero-day status for roughly two days last week, was exploited in a hacker attack targeting the...

Cybercrime

As it evolves, web3 will contain and increase all the security issues of web2 – and perhaps add a few more.

Cybercrime

Luxury retailer Neiman Marcus Group informed some customers last week that their online accounts had been breached by hackers.

Cybercrime

Zendesk is informing customers about a data breach that started with an SMS phishing campaign targeting the company’s employees.

Cybercrime

Patch Tuesday: Microsoft calls attention to a series of zero-day remote code execution attacks hitting its Office productivity suite.

Artificial Intelligence

The release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in late 2022 has demonstrated the potential of AI for both good and bad.

Cybercrime

Satellite TV giant Dish Network confirmed that a recent outage was the result of a cyberattack and admitted that data was stolen.