Planned Parenthood Los Angeles hit with Ransomware Attack

Planned Parenthood Los Angeles began sending notification letters this week to patients whose information may have been affected by a cyber incident in October. Planned Parenthood spokesperson John Erickson told Healthcare IT News that about 400,000 patients' information was contained in the documents. "At this time, we have no evidence that any information involved in this incident has been used for fraudulent purposes," said Erickson. But some cyber experts said the elevated political passions around Planned Parenthood, and reproductive healthcare in general, may mean the incident carries extra weight. Although Planned Parenthood Los Angeles is not directly involved with that case, the association between its parent organization and abortion care raised concerns about its patients' personal information, particularly considering the harassment providers have faced. That dubious honor goes to Florida Healthy Kids Corporation, which found "significant vulnerabilities" on its site since 2013 – potentially leading to the exposure of Social Security numbers, dates of birth, names, addresses and financial information for 3.5 million people.