Boston, MA 09/02/2014 (wallstreetpr) – Community Health Systems (NYSE:CYH) reported on August 18 that the firm system was attacked by Heartbleed in month of April and June. It said that the hackers have stolen personal information of more than four million of patients. In the same matter, five people have filed a class action lawsuit against the company stating that Community Health waited for a long time before reporting the breach. Due to the delay, the patients were unable to take required measures to save themselves from identity theft. They further alleged that Community Health didn’t take enough measures to safeguard patients’ personal information stored on their servers leading to a huge data breach.
Heartbleed vulnerability
Corporate computer servers, internet devices and routers worldwide have become vulnerable to the Heartbleed. It is almost six months the threat was discovered, and from there on many companies are trying hard to deal with the problem. The retail firms, banks, health care companies and firms from other sectors are the key target of the threat. Chinese Hackers took the advantage of Community Health Systems (NYSE:CYH)’s vulnerability after the security hole was publicized. The hackers are more active than corporate security groups to exploit existing flaws in the system.
The delay
As per Community Health Systems (NYSE:CYH), Chinese Hackers attacked the system in the months of April and June. The patients seek the answer that why Community Health reported the matter so late in the month of August. It has given the hackers with ample time to use the names, passwords and other personal information of the more than 4 million patients. The delayed response is an added opportunity for the hackers to exploit the connections where the data packets termed as heartbeats are exchanged. It is a big issue ahead of Community Health Systems (NYSE:CYH) as following the five people; other patients can also come ahead and file a lawsuit against the company.
