‘Chord Specialty Dental Partners’ Data Breach Impacts More than 170,000 People

US dental service organization ‘Chord Specialty Dental Partners’ suffered a serious breach that exposed the data of more than 170,000 individuals.

Dental service organization suffered email breach

Chord Specialty Dental Partners, a dental service organization in Tennessee, suffered a security incident last year.

During the attack, threat actors compromised the organization, which supports more than 60 practices in the US, by breaching several employee email accounts.

According to an investigation, the perpetrators maintained access to the compromised accounts between Aug. 19 and Sept. 25 last year.

Numerous types of data exposed

The investigation further revealed that the criminals accessed sensitive information in the email accounts, including full names, birth dates, addresses, bank account information, driver’s license numbers, Social Security Numbers (SSNs), health insurance information, and medical information.

“At this time, Chord is not aware of any evidence to suggest that any information has been or will be fraudulently misused,” reads the organization’s security advisory. “However, we were unable to rule out the possibility that the information could have been accessed.”

Response and mitigation

After learning of the incident, the organization notified “potentially impacted individuals.”

It also launched an investigation into the breach, aiming to determine the full extent of the incident.

Alrthough the company said it has no evidence of leaked data misuse, Chord offered potentially affected individuals complimentary access to identity protection and credit monitoring services.

The organization recommends exposed individuals watch out for suspicious activity and regularly review their account statements and credit reports.

Being prepared for data breaches

Unfortunately, customers have no control over their data once they hand it over to organizations and don’t know if a security incident may expose it to unauthorized parties.

Therefore, preparing for data breaches is always a wise move. Dedicated services like Bitdefender Digital Identity Protection can help you stay one step ahead of breaches by always knowing the whereabouts of your online data.

It constantly scans the public and the Dark Web for traces of your data, instantly notifies you if a breach has leaked your information, and helps you easily patch weak points in your digital footprint with quick, one-click action items.