Notice of Data Security Incident
Westend Dental is committed to protecting the privacy and security of our patients' personal information and personal health information. Unfortunately, we are writing to inform you about a data security incident that may have affected some of that information.
What Happened
On or about Oct 20, 2020, Arlington Westend Dental LLC, located at 5900 E 10th St. in Indianapolis, experienced a ransomware attack that encrypted our data and temporarily disrupted our systems. To attempt to solve the disruption, Westend Dental’s IT contractor at the time formatted a drive on our system, but was unable to recover data from internal backups. As such, no subsequent forensic investigation could be completed of the incident. Partial data was recovered from our software providers.
What Information Was Involved
We believe that the affected data may include information such as: Appointment details; Biometric information; Contact information; Insurance information and coverage breakdowns; Account information, such as payments made and due payments; Treatment plans; Dental charts and notes from previous appointments; Images, including scanned copies of New Patient forms; insurance verifications and preauthorization letters; and X-rays. At this time, there is no evidence to suggest that this information has been used for fraudulent purposes.
What We Are Doing
We take the protection of your personal information seriously and deeply regret any inconvenience or concern this may cause. As a result of this incident and in an effort to prevent any such incident in the future, we have overhauled our IT infrastructure at both software and hardware level. This includes additional layers of security, enhanced firewall and encryption protocols, device monitoring regime, and increased employee trainings.
What You Can Do
While Westend Dental has no evidence of the misuse of any potentially affected individual’s information as a result of this incident, Westend Dental is providing the following information about steps that individuals can take to help protect their information:
Review Your Account Statements and Notify Law Enforcement of Suspicious Activity: As a precautionary measure, we recommend that you review your account statements and credit reports closely. If you detect any suspicious activity on an account, you should promptly notify the financial institution or company with which the account is maintained. You also should promptly report any fraudulent activity or any suspected incidence of identity theft to proper law enforcement authorities, your state attorney general, and/or the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). You should also contact your local law enforcement authorities and file a police report. Obtain a copy of the police report in case you are asked to provide copies to creditors to correct your records. Contact information for the Federal Trade Commission is as follows:
- Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Response Center, 600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20580, 1-877-IDTHEFT (438-4338), www.consumer.ftc.gov, www.ftc.gov/idtheft.
Copy of Credit Report: You may obtain a free copy of your credit report from each of the three major credit reporting agencies once every 12 months by visiting http://www.annualcreditreport.com/, calling toll-free 877-322-8228, or by completing an Annual Credit Report Request Form and mailing it to Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348. You can print this form at https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/requestformfinal.pdf. You also can contact one of the following three national credit reporting agencies:
- Equifax, P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374, 1-800-525-6285, www.equifax.com.
- Experian, P.O. Box 9532, Allen, TX 75013, 1-888-397-3742, www.experian.com.
- TransUnion, P.O. Box 1000, Chester, PA 19016, 1-800-916-8800, www.transunion.com.
Additional Free Resources: You can obtain information from the consumer reporting agencies, the FTC, or from your respective state attorney general about fraud alerts, security freezes, and steps you can take toward preventing identity theft. You may report suspected identity theft to local law enforcement, including to the FTC or to the state attorney general.
The Federal Trade Commission may be reached at: 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20580; www.identitytheft.gov; 1-877-ID-THEFT (1-877-438-4338); and TTY: 1-866-653-4261
Office of the Indiana Attorney General
Indiana Government Center South
302 W. Washington St., 5th Floor
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Phone: (317) 232-6201
Fax: (317) 232-7979
Consumer Protection Division
302 W. Washington Street, 5th Floor
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Phone: (317) 232-6330 or (800) 382-5516
We deeply regret that this incident occurred and remain committed to earning back your trust. Your privacy and security are our top priorities, and we are taking every step to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.
We understand the distress this may cause and are here to support you.
If you have any questions or need assistance, please contact our dedicated helpline at 1-888-994-6808 or email us at complianceoffice@mywestenddental.com.
We appreciate your understanding and patience..
Sincerely,
Westend Dental
