Dignity Health subsidiary reports data breach due to stolen, unencrypted laptop

U.S. HealthWorks, a Valencia, Calif.-based subsidiary of San Francisco-based Dignity Health, is notifying employees of a potential data breach after a laptop was stolen from an employee’s car.

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U.S. HealthWorks learned of the theft April 22, 2015. The incident occurred the previous night, according to a sample notification letter. Following an internal investigation, U.S. HealthWorks determined that while the laptop was password protected, it was not encrypted and may contain files including employees’ names, addresses, birth dates, job titles and Social Security numbers.

The laptop has not yet been recovered, though the provider indicates it currently has no reason to believe any information was improperly accessed or used, according to the notification letter.

U.S. HealthWorks has not disclosed how many individuals may be affected by the breach.

The provider indicated it is enhancing procedures related to laptop deployment and full disk encryption.

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