Tri-Century Eye Care Data Breach Impacts 200,000 Individuals

According to the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) data breach tracker, Tri-Century Eye Care’s incident affects roughly 200,000 individuals. The breach was detected on 3 September, with a data security incident notice posted in late October stating personal and protected health information may have been compromised.

The Pear ransomware group took credit for the attack in late September, claiming to have stolen more than 3 Tb of data, including HR, financial, emails, databases and personal and health information. An investigation found that the organisation’s electronic medical records system was not hacked, but attackers gained access to files containing sensitive data such as name, date of birth, Social Security number, health information, and payment or financial details.

The HHS tracker now shows the incident has impacted approximately 200,000 individuals, and the attackers have made public the files they allegedly stole after Tri-Century Eye Care reportedly refused to pay a ransom. This breach follows a pattern seen in healthcare data breaches where large numbers of patients can be affected, with Tri-Century being one of several eye-care providers disclosed this year.