Data on 2,200 patients treated at a Rhode Island hospital was posted on the public website last week, catching hospital officials off guard. Patients seen at Westerly (RI) Hospital found out about the problem when a woman searching for her phone number with Google stumbled across the a link for the site, which includes patient names, Social Security numbers and medical records. Officials don't know how long the data was live online, or who put it there. Once they discovered the problem, however, they took immediate action, working with the Web host to get the site shut down. The hospital has since agreed to provide free credit checks to all the patients affected by the breach.
To learn more about the breach:
- read this Associated Press piece
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