Episource, UnitedHealth Group Subsidiary, Sees Millions of Health Records Stolen During a Cyberattack

In a shocking turn of events, healthcare giant Episource has disclosed that millions of people in the United States have had their personal and medical data stolen during a large-scale cyberattack. This breach affects more than 5.4 million individuals, making it one of the most significant health data compromises of the year so far.

Episource, a subsidiary of the colossal health insurance corporation UnitedHealth Group, is a major player in the provision of billing adjustment services for various health organizations. As such, the company handles substantial amounts of sensitive health and personal data. The data breach saw a criminal manage to gain access to this data, taking copies of both here-to-unseemly secured personal and health information.

While Episource has refrained from providing specific details about the nature of the incident, Sharp HealthCare - a company that works closely and was affected by the Episource breach - disclosed that the hack was a result of ransomware. This incident is merely another hit to the UnitedHealth Group, adding to the list of cybersecurity violations in recent years.

In the recent past, Change Healthcare, processing billions of health transactions each year and being one of the most significant entities in the U.S. healthcare industry, fell victim to a ransomware attack. This cyberattack led to the theft of personal and health information affecting over 190 million Americans, marking it as the largest healthcare data leak in U.S. history.

Just a few months after that staggering breach, an internal chatbot used by employees to inquire about claims was exposed to the public internet, courtesy of Optum, another UnitedHealth unit. With this new incident affecting Episource, questions are undoubtedly rising about the safety and security practices at these industry-leading organizations, casting doubt on how well protected our personal and health information actually is.