Insider May Have Breached More Than 10,000 Patient Records At Johns Hopkins

An employee at Johns Hopkins Hospital may have leaked the personal information of more than 10,000 patients in an identity fraud scam.

According to a report filed to the administrator of the state of Maryland's Identity Theft Program (PDF), some 31 individuals with connections to Johns Hopkins have reported identity thefts since Jan. 20. Law enforcement agencies suspect the thefts might be part of a fraudulent driver's license scheme discovered in neighboring Virginia.

In researching the thefts, members of the Johns Hopkins security department discovered that a single employee who worked in patient registration may have used her access privileges to review data on more than 10,000 patients while working at the hospital. The now-former employee is expected to be indicted for stealing the data, the report states.

The hospital emphasizes that the breach was not a hacking incident, but that the employee had access to the records as part of her job... More >>