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Massive Data Breach Impacts 100 Million In U.S. Healthcare System
- Written by Kiara Fabbri Former Tech News Writer
- Fact-Checked by Justyn Newman Former Lead Cybersecurity Editor
In a Rush? Here are the Quick Facts!
- Over 100 million Americans had data stolen in Change Healthcare cyberattack.
- The breach affected hospitals, pharmacies, and medical practices across the U.S.
- Stolen data includes health records, insurance details, and Social Security numbers.
In a major data breach, UnitedHealth has confirmed that personal and healthcare information for more than 100 million people was stolen in a February ransomware attack targeting Change Healthcare. This incident is now regarded as one of the most extensive healthcare data breaches in recent years, according to BleepingComputer (BC).
Change Healthcare, a major processor of insurance and billing data across the U.S., handles healthcare information for about a third of Americans. The breach exposed sensitive data across thousands of hospitals, pharmacies, and medical practices, highlighting vulnerabilities in the U.S. healthcare data infrastructure, as noted by TechCrunch (TC).
BC reports that, in the months following the June breach, Change Healthcare has disclosed that the stolen data includes a broad range of sensitive information.
Health insurance details, medical records, payment and billing information, and personal identifiers such as Social Security and driver’s license numbers were among the compromised data. However, not every affected person’s medical history was exposed, as noted by BC.
Earlier this month, Reuters reported that Change Healthcare anticipates significant operational disruptions from the breach, projecting a $705 million financial impact due to payment delays and service outages. UnitedHealth responded by issuing billions of dollars in loans to healthcare providers and covering notification costs for affected customers.
TC reports that the attack, attributed to the ALPHV/BlackCat ransomware group, first surfaced in February when Change Healthcare shut down much of its network to contain the breach, causing immediate service interruptions across the healthcare sector.
Following the attack, ALPHV/BlackCat disappeared with a reported $22 million ransom paid by UnitedHealth. After internal disputes, contractors involved in the hack formed a new group, attempting a second extortion and leaking some of the stolen data online as proof of their demands, as reported by TC.
Change Healthcare’s access to a copy of the stolen data enabled the company to identify and alert affected individuals, said TC. Although no evidence suggests the data was fully deleted, other ransomware groups, such as LockBit, have shown a tendency to retain stolen data even after victims comply with ransom demands, noted TC.
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Meta Teams Up With Reuters For Real-Time News In AI Chatbot
- Written by Kiara Fabbri Former Tech News Writer
- Fact-Checked by Justyn Newman Former Lead Cybersecurity Editor
In a Rush? Here are the Quick Facts!
- Users will access Reuters content on multiple platforms.
- Reuters will be compensated for its journalism.
- Meta’s spokesperson highlighted improvements in user experience.
Reports indicate that Meta has formed a multi-year partnership with Reuters to integrate its news content into Meta’s AI chatbot. This deal, first reported by Axios , will help the chatbot provide real-time answers to questions about news and current events.
Starting Friday, users of Meta’s AI chatbot in the U.S. will have access to live news and information from Reuters when they ask about current events, notes Axious.
Axios notes that reuters will be compensated for access to its journalism, but it is unclear whether the deal includes a licensing component that would allow Meta to use Reuters’ content to train its large language model, Llama.
The AI chatbot will be available on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger, allowing users to get news updates. When users ask about news, the chatbot will reference Reuters’ articles and provide links to their coverage, said Anxios.
A Meta spokesperson told Axios, “We’re always iterating and working to improve our products, and through Meta’s partnership with Reuters, Meta AI can respond to news-related questions with summaries and links to Reuters content.”
“While most people use Meta AI for creative tasks, deep dives on new topics or how-to assistance, this partnership will help ensure a more useful experience for those seeking information on current events.”
Reuters has not provided any comment on the partnership, according to reports from both The Verge and Axios.
Similarly, OpenAI announced in May a multi-year partnership with News Corp to access content from major publications like The Wall Street Journal and The New York Post.
These partnership comes amid rising tensions in the media landscape, as seen with The New York Times demanding that Perplexity, an AI search engine startup, stop using its content without permission .
As AI technologies continue to generate summaries and insights, publishers are increasingly worried about protecting their content and revenue, fearing that unauthorized use could undermine their business models.
The rapid integration of AI in journalism represents both a significant opportunity and a profound challenge. On one hand, partnerships like those between Meta and Reuters or OpenAI and News Corp highlight a growing recognition of the need for AI to source credible content, which can enhance the quality of information provided to users.
However, the increasing prevalence of AI-generated summaries raises critical concerns for traditional publishers. As AI tools become more capable of producing content, there is a risk that users may rely on these summaries instead of engaging with original articles, potentially leading to decreased traffic and revenue for news organizations.
Ultimately, the relationship between AI and journalism is evolving.
