New York Attorney General Letitia James secured $450,000 from US Radiology Specialists, Inc. (US Radiology) for failing to protect its patients’ personal and health care data.
An investigation by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) found that US Radiology did not prioritize upgrading its hardware, which left its network exposed, leading to a ransomware attack that affected more than 92,000 New Yorkers.
As a result of this week's agreement, US Radiology has agreed to pay $450,000 in penalties to New York, update its IT infrastructure, properly secure its networks and update its data security policies.
“When patients visit a medical facility, they deserve confidence in knowing that their personal information will not be compromised when they are receiving care,” said Attorney General James.
“US Radiology failed to protect New Yorkers’ data and was vulnerable to attack because of outdated equipment. In the face of increasing cyberattacks and more sophisticated scams to steal private data, I urge all companies to make necessary upgrades and security fixes to their computer hardware and systems. My office will continue to ensure companies do not neglect their legal responsibilities to protect New Yorkers’ private information.”
US Radiology is a large private radiology group that provides managed services for many of its partner companies, including the Windsong Radiology Group, which has six facilities across Western New York.
In December 2021, a threat actor gained access to US Radiology’s network and stole the personal and health information of 198,260 patients, including the data of 92,540 New Yorkers. The stolen information included names, dates of birth, social security numbers, driver’s license numbers, passport numbers, patient IDs, dates of service, provider names, types of radiology exams, diagnoses and health insurance ID numbers.
As part of today’s agreement, US Radiology has agreed to pay $450,000 in penalties and adopt additional data security practices to strengthen its network. These data security practices include: enhancing its existing written security program; creating an IT asset management program; encrypting patients’ personal information; developing a testing program that identifies and remediates security vulnerabilities; and implementing policies that permanently delete their patients’ personal data when there is no reasonable business purpose to retain it.
