Email Hack Affects 39,000 Laboratory Patients

Accessed emails contained patient Social Security numbers and financial account information

By By Dan Hounsell


The attacks just keep on coming for vulnerable healthcare systems. Data breaches from cyber attacks jumped 55 percent in 2020, and 2021 shows no signs of slowing down.

ProPath, a Dallas-based laboratory testing provider, recently began notifying 39,213 patients that an unauthorized party gained access to two ProPath email accounts, according to Becker’s Hospital Review. ProPath said it disabled access to those emails and required password resets to avoid further unauthorized access. 

Through an investigation, it discovered Jan. 28 that one or both of the email accounts were accessed between May 4 and Sept. 14, 2020. The accessed emails contained patient Social Security numbers, financial account information, birthdates and more. ProPath said there is no evidence any of the compromised data has been misused.

For those whose Social Security numbers were affected, ProPath is offering free access to a credit monitoring system.



March 16, 2021


Topic Area: Information Technology


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