Four computers stolen from Advocate Medical Group in an overnight burglary contained personal information on about four million patients.
The computers, taken from Advocate Medical Group, contained data such as social security numbers, addresses, names, and dates of birth. Hospital staff said patients' medical records were not exposed, Daily Herald reported.
The Chicago-based medical group sent out letters to all of the affected patients, and will offer a year of complimentary credit monitoring to protect them from identity theft, Chicago Tribune reported.
"Nothing leads us to believe the computers were taken for the information they contain, and there is no information to suggest any of that data has been used in an inappropriate way," Kelly Jo Golson, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Advocate Health Care told the Chicago Tribune. "We want our patients to know that security is a top priority, and we're focused right now on putting together resources to make sure we can help answer any questions."
The group said the computers were password protected, but not encrypted.
Paul Stephens, director of policy and advocacy at the nonprofit Privacy Rights Clearinghouse is concerned the information will be used could be used to open credit card accounts or cell phone plans under the affected patients' personal data.
"Password protection is worthless," Stephen said. He believes the computers' hard drives could be plugged into another device, which would easily get past the passwords.
The robbery took place on July 17, the building was equipped with only a panic button and cameras.
The Illinois Attorney General's office will decide whether or not to take legal action in the future.
Last year there were 2,644 security breaches globally, that's over twice the number in 2011.
Advocate has a temporary call center available for affected patients that have questions or concerns.
