Singing River Health System Hit with Class Action Over August 2023 Cyberattack

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Singing River Health System faces a proposed class action over an August 2023 cyberattack that compromised the personal and medical data of current and former employees and patients.

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According to a January 2024 notice letter sent to victims, the Mississippi-based healthcare system and its subsidiary, Singing River Gulfport, experienced a targeted ransomware attack on August 19 of last year. A notice posted on the defendant’s website relays that “unusual activity” on its network was observed that day and certain systems were inaccessible.

Per the 47-page lawsuit, a subsequent investigation determined that the data breach may have compromised individuals’ names, dates of birth, addresses, Social Security numbers and medical and health information.

The suit claims that negligence on the part of Singing River is to blame for the incident, alleging that the healthcare provider’s computer systems were insufficiently secured and the data stored therein was left in a “dangerous condition.” The case adds that the defendant would have detected the unauthorized access sooner had it properly monitored its network.

The complaint takes further issue with Singing River’s delayed notification of data breach victims. Although the defendant claims to have discovered the incident on August 19, 2023, it waited until mid-January 2024 to distribute notice letters to impacted individuals, the filing contends.

To make matters worse, Singing River has done “absolutely nothing” to make amends for the damages victims have sustained as a result of its alleged negligence, the case charges.

“Defendant Singing River has merely offered one year of credit monitoring services through IDX, a tacit admission that its failure to protect their private information has caused [the plaintiff] and class great injuries,” the suit says. “These limited services are inadequate when victims are likely to face many years of identity theft.”

The lawsuit looks to represent anyone whose private information was compromised as a result of the data breach discovered by Singing River Health System in August 2023, including those who received notice of the incident.

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