DentaQuest Data Breach Potentially Impacts Over 23 Million People
DentaQuest, a major dental and vision benefits administrator, experienced a significant data breach potentially impacting over 23 million people. Hackers gained access to sensitive information including Social Security numbers, medical details, and billing data between May 17th and May 20th. The incident was linked to the ShinyHunters extortion group, and DentaQuest is offering affected individuals 24 months of credit monitoring and identity theft services.
DentaQuest, a leading dental and vision benefits administrator, is notifying millions of individuals that their personal and dental health information may have been compromised in a data breach. The incident was discovered on May 20th, and DentaQuest’s investigation revealed that attackers had accessed the organization’s network between May 17th and May 20th. During this timeframe, the attackers gained access to a wide range of sensitive data, including names, addresses, Social Security numbers, member identification numbers, Medicaid and Medicare numbers, benefits provider names, diagnosis, treatment details, and billing information.
DentaQuest is providing affected individuals with 24 months of free credit monitoring, fraud consultation, and identity theft restoration services as part of the response to the breach. Based on filings with Attorney General’s Offices in Texas, Massachusetts, and South Carolina, DentaQuest is sending written notification letters to at least 4.5 million people.
According to the HIPAA Journal, more than 23.4 million individuals were potentially impacted by the data breach, and DentaQuest reportedly confirmed that at least 15 million were affected. The incident is linked to the notorious extortion group ShinyHunters, who claimed responsibility for the attack and leaked approximately 234 GB of data allegedly stolen from DentaQuest. The leaked data also included email addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, and government-issued IDs. DentaQuest serves a large customer base, with Sun Life, a subsidiary serving 35 million people in 50 states, being one of its major clients.