KLAMATH COUNTY DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITY SERVICES NOTIFIES INDIVIDUALS OF BREACH OF UNSECURED PERSONAL INFORMATION
Klamath County Developmental Disability Services notified 547 individuals of a breach of unsecured personal patient protected health information after discovering the following event:
On October 21, 2022, it was brought to the attention of the Klamath County Information Technology Department that a data set was inappropriately emailed to an email address that should not have received the records. The information that was involved were individual names, date of birth, address, and Medicaid numbers.
Klamath County performed a full investigation and has been taking necessary steps to ensure that the data has not been used in a manner that is unintended. At this time, there is no known damage from this breach. Steps taken to mitigate this breach, include a request for the information to be deleted from the email server that the information was sent to.
Klamath County Developmental Disability Services has notified impacted individuals to mitigate the damages of the breach. Klamath County Developmental Disability Services has in place safeguards to ensure the privacy and security of all protected health information. As a result of this breach, steps are underway to further improve the security of its operations and eliminate future risk. The employee of the source of this breach is no longer employed with Klamath County.
In a notification to individuals, Klamath County Developmental Disability Services has offered their resources as well as the following recommendations:
To protect yourself from the possibility of identity theft, we recommend that the individuals review and report any suspicious activity to the relevant agencies. It is also recommended that all documents received from Medicaid are reviewed for accuracy. If there are concerns about the information that is received, contact the local Oregon Department of Human Services Office at (541)883-5551.
For more information on identity theft, it is recommended that the following websites are utilized:
Reporting Medicaid Fraud and Abuse:
https://www.doj.state.or.us/consumer-protection/sales-scams-fraud/medicaid-fraud/
https://oig.hhs.gov/fraud/report-fraud/
Identity Theft:
https://www.usa.gov/identity-theft
Klamath County Developmental Disability Services has trained staff available for individuals to call with any questions from individuals impacted by this data breach. Individuals may call (541) 885-2435 from 8 AM to 5 PM weekdays with any questions.
Any media questions or requests can be directed to Commissioner Kelley Minty at (541)883-5100 or email kminty@klamathcounty.org from 8 AM to 5 PM weekdays.
Klamath County Developmental Disability Services understands the importance of safeguarding individual personal information and takes that responsibility very seriously.
Contact: Klamath County Commissioner Kelley Minty, (541)883-5100, kminty@klamathcounty.org
Original source can be found here.
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