The personal information of roughly 320,000 individuals was compromised following a ransomware attack at New York-based ambulance services provider Empress EMS (Emergency Medical Services).
Founded in 1985 and located in Yonkers, the organization provides emergency transportation services, as well as emergency and non-emergency response services to hospitals, private care facilities, and correctional institutions. Empress EMS has more than 200 employees.
In a data breach notice posted on its website, Empress EMS reveals that on July 14, 2022, it identified a ransomware attack that resulted in some of its systems being encrypted.
The subsequent investigation into the incident has revealed that the attackers had gained access to the organization’s network in late May, and that they stole patient data before deploying ransomware on the compromised systems.
According to Empress EMS, the exfiltrated files contained personal information such as names and Social Security numbers, but also patient data such as dates of service and insurance information.
The emergency services provider says it has already started informing the impacted patients of the incident.
On September 9, Empress EMS informed the US Department of Health and Human Services that the incident impacted just over 318,000 individuals.
The organization did not provide further information on the type of ransomware that was used in the attack, but the Hive ransomware gang boasted to DataBreaches that they were behind the incident.
The Hive operators apparently contacted Empress EMS to inform them that they stole over 280 gigabytes of data, including business files, private company information, employee data, customer data, and more.
In July, Hive posted a brief about the attack on its leak site, but removed it shortly after, likely without making public any of the stolen information. It’s unclear whether Empress EMS paid a ransom to prevent the data leakage.
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