CAMDEN, N.J., May 25, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Cooper University Health Care ("Cooper"), a health system that provides treatment to its patients throughout South Jersey and the Delaware Valley, has learned of a data security incident that may have impacted data belonging to current and former Cooper patients. Cooper has sent notification of this incident to potentially impacted individuals and has provided resources to assist them.

On December 13, 2021, Cooper learned of unusual activity involving an employee's email account. Upon discovering this activity, Cooper immediately launched an investigation with the assistance of independent cybersecurity experts to determine what happened and identify whether personal / protected health information had been accessed or acquired without authorization. Cooper also took steps to secure all employee email accounts.

The investigation revealed that an employee email account had been accessed without authorization sometime on or before November 24, 2021. Cooper then launched a comprehensive review of the contents of the email account. On May 10, 2022, Cooper learned that some individuals' personal and protected health information may have been contained therein.  Cooper thereafter worked diligently to gather up-to-date contact information needed to notify all potentially affected individuals.  

At this time, Cooper has no evidence that any of the potentially affected information was accessed, disclosed, or misused as a result of this incident.  However, beginning on May 24, 2022, Cooper notified all potentially affected individuals. In doing so, Cooper provided information about the incident and about steps that potentially impacted individuals can take to protect their information.

The following personal and protected health information may have been involved in the incident: names, dates of birth, medical professional's names, diagnosis and treatment information, billing and claims information, and medical record number.

The privacy and protection of personal and protected health information is a top priority for Cooper, which deeply regrets any inconvenience or concern this incident may cause. Cooper is working to implement additional safeguards to help ensure the security of its email environment and to reduce the risk of a similar incident from occurring in the future. Cooper has also established a toll-free call center to answer questions about the incident. Call center representatives are available Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, excluding holidays and can be reached at 1-800-405-6108. Please provide the following code when calling:  l3btotw0i3yu.

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SOURCE Cooper University Health Care