http://securityratty.com/tag/fredericksburg Sun, 30 Mar 2008 17:19:47 +0000 iRatty Engine http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://securityratty.com/article/a3e417422522d06420f681f61ddeb911 http://securityratty.com/article/a3e417422522d06420f681f61ddeb911 Security Breach

Date Reported:
3/27/08

Organization:
Laboratory Corporation of America (LabCorp)

Contractor/Consultant/Branch:
Unknown courier

Victims:
Patients

Number Affected:
Unknown*

*"thousands of patient medical records"

Types of Data:
Medical records, lab results, and possibly billing information

Breach Description:
"Thousands of sensitive medical documents fell out of a truck bed and ended up scattered across the road for just about anyone to see and take."

Reference URL:
WOAI Channel 4 News

Report Credit:
Ryan O'Donnell, WOAI

Response:
From the online source cited above:

Thousands of sensitive medical documents fell out of a truck bed and ended up scattered across the road for just about anyone to see and take.

The box belonged to Labcorp, one of the world's largest companies that analyzes blood work, and contained thousands of patient medical records.

A spokesperson said a courier left the tailgate of his truck open and several boxes slid out, smashing onto Fredericksburg Road.
[Evan] What kind of courier forgets to close the tailgate of their truck?

Allison Cheatham and a friend were shocked to find the box as they drove down Fredericksburg Road Tuesday.

"I feel sorry for those people," said Cheatham.

Labcorp. picked up the scattered records and told Cheatham they'd come by and get the box she found. However, they never showed up.

Wednesday, News 4 caught up with Cheatham again and waited with her for Labcorp. to come pick up the records, but, again, no one showed up.
[Evan] Does this show a lack of concern by the company?

"I'm going to continue to hold onto it until someone from Labcorp., someone responsible person from Labcorp., decides to contact me and get this information," said Cheatham.

Labcorp. believes the information that scattered all over the road here was old documents from 1993 and later and possibly billing information which wouldn't include people's Social Security numbers.

Commentary:
I can only imagine what kind of sensitive information LabCorp collects and stores on their patients.  I don't understand how a courier can forget to close the tailgate of their truck.  I wonder who the courier is.  Do you suppose LabCorp has an obligation to notify the people that were affected?

I have heard that LabCorp responded very quickly to the site of the incident with employees "picking up these documents in between cars, in the bushes, on their hands and knees and all of this was happening while SAPD was detouring traffic."

I am a little disappointed that LabCorp didn't fulfill their promise to Allison Cheatham by retrieving the box she has in her possession.

Past Breaches:
August, 2006 - LabCorp Facility Break-in Exposes Patient Data

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