[ISN] Hospital files with data of 800,000 are missing

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/07/20/hospital_files_with_data_of_800000_are_missing/

By Martin Finucane and Kay Lazar
Globe Staff 
The Boston Globe
July 20, 2010 

Computer files from South Shore Hospital that contain personal 
information for about 800,000 people may have been lost when they were 
shipped to a contractor to be destroyed, hospital officials announced 
yesterday.

The officials declined to identify the contractor, but said that an 
independent information security consulting firm has determined that 
specialized software, hardware, and technical knowledge would be 
required to open and decipher information in the files.

They also said they had no evidence that the information in those files 
had been improperly used by anyone.

“We are sorry for any concern we are causing anyone at this time,’’ said 
Richard H. Aubut, president and chief executive offi cer of the Weymouth 
hospital. “We are still searching for those files.’’

The information was on back-up files headed for destruction because they 
were in a format the hospital said it no longer used. Based on the 
investigation so far, the hospital said the files contained information 
on patients, employees, physicians, volunteers, donors, and other 
business partners associated with South Shore between Jan. 1, 1996, and 
Jan. 6 of this year.

[...]


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