SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, April 21, 2025 (Ecnetnews.com)
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Hospital Español Auxilio Mutuo de Puerto Rico, Inc.
What Happened
On September 23, 2023, the Department of Homeland Security informed the Hospital Español Auxilio Mutuo de Puerto Rico, Inc. that our systems were the likely target of a criminal cyber group. Immediately upon receiving this notice, we initiated our incident response plan, retained legal counsel, and engaged outside IT experts (through counsel) in cyber incident response. On November 21, 2023, our initial investigation identified evidence consistent with unauthorized access to certain systems, but was unable to conclude the extent, if any, of data misuse or exfiltration.
In an attempt to further determine the extent of the incident, we launched a second investigation, and on May 15, 2024, our preliminary findings identified unauthorized activity typically associated with data exfiltration on Auxilio Mutuo systems that contained patient data. Although ultimately inconclusive, on September 24, 2024, a comprehensive review of available evidence by internal and external IT experts limited the potentially affected patients to those who visited our facility between August 2022 and September 2023.
What Information was Involved
Auxilio Mutuo cannot confirm the exact data elements affected for each impacted patient. Out of an abundance of caution, however, we have informed the potentially affected patients that the following information may have been impacted:
Contact information (such as first and last name, address, date of birth, phone number, and email) and one or more of the following:
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Health insurance information (such as primary, secondary or other health plans/policies, insurance companies, member/group ID numbers, and Medicaid-Medicare-government payor ID numbers);
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Health information (such as medical record numbers, providers, diagnoses, medicines, test results, images, care and treatment);
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Billing, claims and payment information (such as claim numbers, account numbers, billing codes, payment cards, financial and banking information, payments made, and balance due); and/or
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Other personal information such as Social Security numbers, driver’s licenses or state ID numbers, or passport numbers.
What is Auxilio Mutuo doing?
Immediately upon learning of the potential threat to Auxilio Mutuo’s systems, Auxilio Mutuo implemented its incident response plan, and began an investigation with support from cybersecurity experts. In response to the warning from the Department of Homeland Security, Auxilio Mutuo immediately took action to shut down systems and sever connectivity to prevent further impact. Auxilio Mutuo has taken steps to strengthen its network systems to reduce the risk of a similar incident from occurring in the future. Now, Auxilio Mutuo is providing potentially impacted patients with notice of the incident one year of free credit monitoring and identity protection services through Equifax. Should you have any questions or concerns, please contact our dedicated assistance line with Equifax’s at 1-800-395-5920.
What You Can Do
As a general matter, we encourage everyone to employ best security practices, including monitoring credit reports and financial statements. We also remind everyone you are entitled to one free credit report annually from the each of the three major credit reporting bureaus, TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax. To order your free credit report, visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call 1-877-322-8228.
You can further educate yourself regarding identity theft, fraud alerts, credit freezes, and the steps you can take to protect your personal information by contacting the credit reporting bureaus, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) or your state Attorney General. The FTC also encourages those who discover that their information has been misused to file a complaint with them. The FTC may be reached at 600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20580; www.identitytheft.gov; 1-877-ID-THEFT (1-877-438-4338); and TTY: 1-866-653-4261.
For More Information
For any further information, please contact Auxilio Muto via our dedicated assistance line with Equifax’s at 1-800-395-5920.
Sincerely,
Jorge J. Velez Gutierrez
General Counsel
Hospital Español Auxilio Mutuo de Puerto Rico, Inc.
Source: Hospital Español Auxilio Mutuo de Puerto Rico, Inc.
