Illinois hospital reports data blackmail

An Illinois hospital says someone attempted to blackmail it to stop the release of data about some of its patients.

Clay County Hospital, a medium-sized hospital chain in the state, received an anonymous email on Nov. 2 that asked for “a substantial payment” to avoid patient data being released. The email included “protected health information” of some patients, it said Monday.

The hospital says it immediately notified law enforcement agencies.

An investigation discovered the data relates to patients who visited Clay County Hospital clinics on or before February 2012. A hospital representative declined to disclose how many people are involved but said the data is limited to their names, addresses, Social Security numbers and dates of birth. No medical information was compromised in the breach, they said.

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