On February 3, the Michigan Department of Community Health announced that thousands of individuals had their compromised in a data breach caused by the theft of a laptop and flash drive. The equipment was stolen on the evening of January 30 or the morning of January 31 from the office of an employee of the state’s Long-Term Care Ombudsman’s Office.
The flash drive was unencrypted, leaving the personal information of more than 2,500 living and deceased individuals accessible by the thief. Over half of the records
contained individuals’ Social Security or Medicaid identification number. The April 3 release from MDCH indicates they are working with the LTC Ombudsman’s Office to offer credit monitoring services at no cost to people whose Social Security number or Medicaid number were compromised.
Nick Lyon, chief deputy director of the MDCH, also indicated they are working to “notify any individuals who may have been impacted and with staff to tighten our security procedures going forward.”
Data encryption can significantly decrease the impact of a breach, especially where mobile devices and portable computers are concerned.
