Health tech company HealthEquity has experienced a data breach, though it remains unconnected to other recent high-profile cyberattacks.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) earlier this week, HealthEquity disclosed that hackers had accessed the “protected health information” of some customers. The company detected the breach earlier this year after noticing “anomalous behavior” related to a business partner’s personal device. It was determined that a hacker had compromised this partner’s account and used it to access members’ protected health information.
HealthEquity discovered the breach on March 25 and took immediate action to address the issue. According to Amy Cerny, a spokesperson for HealthEquity, the company resolved the matter swiftly and began an extensive forensic investigation, which concluded on June 10. Cerny emphasized that the breach was an isolated incident and not connected to other recent cyberattacks, such as the one targeting UnitedHealth-owned Change Healthcare earlier this year.
The investigation revealed that the compromised third-party vendor account had access to some of HealthEquity’s SharePoint data. HealthEquity assembled a team of internal and external experts to investigate the breach and prepare a response.
The increasing focus on cybersecurity comes amid broader concerns about data security in the connected economy, particularly with the rise of connected workplaces and smart homes. The extensive use of connected devices introduces new vulnerabilities due to the vast amounts of personal data they collect.
“It is essentially an adversarial game; criminals are out to make money, and the financial community needs to curtail that activity. What’s different now is that both sides are armed with some really impressive technology,” said Michael Shearer, chief solutions officer at Hawk AI.
“On the automation side, it’s all about data. It’s all about organizing and connecting your data together, understanding the signals that you have so you can build a richer context and make better decisions. But you’ve got to have that information there, and you’ve got to connect it together. That’s step one.”
