Quest Data Breach Impacts Nearly 12M Patients

Recently, a total of 11.9 million patients of Quest Diagnostics and another care provider had their private data exposed by a data breach, including sensitive financial information. This data may have included credit card, bank account and Social Security numbers in addition to medical records and other sensitive information. Quest Diagnostics is a corporate clearinghouse for medical testing, through which consumers can order medical tests and view their results online.

What Happened?

According to the press release from Quest Diagnostics, an unauthorized user (who has not been identified) gained access to a data storage system operated by American Medical Collection Agency (AMCA), a vendor that provides billing services for medical companies like Quest.

The database was compromised for approximately eight months, starting in August 2018. In addition to information collected by AMCA, the unknown hacker gained access to patient data from Quest Diagnostics as well.

What is Known About the Quest Data Breach

At this point, it is not known how the hacker gained access to the database, nor whose records have been compromised. Furthermore, Quest has been unable to get definitive details from AMCA; however, it is believed that lab test results were not among the data that had been exposed.

In addition to Quest Diagnostics records, the hacker was also able to access data from Optum360, a company that works with health care providers and payers such as insurance companies.

What is Being Done?

When the data breach was discovered, AMCA immediately disabled its online payment system and hired third-party IT specialists to investigate the incident. Unfortunately, that investigation has yet to be completed.

For its part, Quest Diagnostics stopped sending collection requests to AMCA. The company states that it is “taking this matter very seriously and is committed to the privacy and security of our patients’ personal information.” They have been working with Optum360 to notify individuals who may have been affected by the Quest data breach.

How Often Does This Happen?

While this is the first time digital records have been compromised at AMCA and Quest Diagnostics, the unfortunate reality is that events such as the Quest data breach happen with appalling frequency across a range of industries and institutions.

It even happens to the federal government. On June 10, according to the Washington Post, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency reported that photos of people’s faces and license plates had been exposed, which they report was the result of a “malicious cyberattack.”

In 2018, there were 10 major data breaches around the world, all involving large companies that collect and store consumer information. The largest affected Aadhaar, an agency of the Government of India that handles unique identifiers of that country’s citizens. That data breach, which occurred between August 2017 and January of 2018 impacted over one billion individuals.

What to Do if You are Affected

If you believe you may be the victim of a data breach, experts say there are a number of things you can do to protect yourself:

• Change all passwords for any websites you regularly use.
• Beware of “phishing” emails or text messages, particularly if they appear to originate from a bank or insurance company (usually, the TLD of origin will give it away).
• Do not provide any information for an online account than is absolutely necessary.
• Monitor your credit score regularly for any unusual changes that may indicate identity theft.

A class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of Quest customers affected by the breach.  Labcorp, another medical testing company, has also reportedly been affected by the breach.

Join a Free Quest Diagnostics Data Breach Lawsuit Investigation

If you are a Quest Diagnostics patient and you received bills from AMCA, you may qualify to join this Quest Diagnostics data breach class action lawsuit investigation.

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This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.