The Los Angeles Department of Mental Health has notified some of their clients after their personal information was potentially compromised in a data breach two months ago.
It happened on March 20 when a LACDMH employee clicked on a phishing email, compromising his account. The department said the employee had confidential customer and patient information in those accounts.
LACDMH said it immediately enlisted the help of a “nationally recognized forensic firm” to determine what had been accessed and downloaded. After a day of investigation, the company discovered that there were emails or attachments containing names and one or more of the following information: date of birth, address, phone number, social security number, and medical record number.
LACDMH said it is not clear whether the information was accessed, but contacted affected people by mail. The department did not have the addresses of some of the affected clients, but guaranteed they would contact all affected.
Anyone concerned about the data breach should call (888) 217-0379 for assistance. Those concerned that their information may have been accessed during the phishing attack can visit the department’s website. Officials have also taken steps to protect personal information.
“LACDMH regrets any inconvenience this incident may have caused,” the department said. “To help prevent something like this from happening again, LACDMH has implemented additional security and technical safeguards to further enhance the security of its computer systems.”
Phishing is a cyber attack in which people use fake communications to trick victims into downloading malware.
