Ascension discloses new data breach after third-party hacking incident

​Ascension, one of the largest private healthcare systems in the United States, is notifying patients that their personal and health information was stolen in a December 2024 data theft attack, which affected a former business partner. The health network operates 142 hospitals nationwide, has over 142,000 employees, and has reported a total revenue of $28.3 billion in 2023. "On December 5, 2024, we learned that Ascension patient information may have been involved in a potential security incident. We immediately initiated an investigation to determine whether and how a security incident occurred," Ascension says in data breach notifications sent to affected individuals. "Our investigation determined on January 21, 2025, that Ascension inadvertently disclosed information to a former business partner, and some of this information was likely stolen from them due to a vulnerability in third-party software used by the former business partner." Depending on the impacted patient, the attac ... Read full article.