Klamath County data breach
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Klamath County Developmental Disability Services notified individuals of a breach of unsecured personal information
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. - Klamath County Developmental Disability Services (KCDDS) notified 547 individuals of a breach of unsecured personal patient-protected health information after discovering the event on October 21.
In October, 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 included 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 were taken to mitigate this breach, including a request for the information to be deleted from the recipient’s email server.
In a press release, KCDDS stated, “KCDDS has notified impacted individuals to mitigate the damages of the breach. KCDDS 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, KCDDS has offered its resources as well as the following recommendations:
Protect yourself from the possibility of identity theft, KCDDS recommends that 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
Additionally, KCDDS stated, “KCDDS understands the importance of safeguarding individual personal information and takes that responsibility very seriously.”