A Richmond man has been arrested in connection to a series of PharmaNet breaches that may have compromised the personal medical information of about 20,500 British Columbians.
Vancouver police executed a search warrant at a home in Richmond on March 23 and arrested a suspect. Investigators believe the man gained unauthorized access to the provincial online prescription-medication information system and used patients’ personal data for fraudulent purposes.
The man, who hasn’t been identified, faces a number of identity-theft-related charges, said police. Charges haven’t been laid.
The Health Ministry characterized the breach as a product of “cybercrime” that targeted doctor and medical clinic offices and PharmaNet service vendors.
“Through forensic analysis, we have learned that several breaches, which have occurred since July 2016, are connected,” said spokeswoman Lori Cascaden.
“This inappropriate access to PharmaNet is not because of a direct hack into the system. It is suspected that access was obtained through impersonation of physicians and other methods.”
In February, the Health Ministry sent out letters to about 7,500 people affected by the breach, which officials became aware about after users and vendors reported incidents of “suspicious access.”
Since then, another 13,000 people may have had their PharmaNet information accessed, said the ministry Monday.
In the majority of cases, the suspect is believed to have accessed patients’ profiles, which contain their name, address, gender, date of birth and personal health number. In some cases, information such as the patient’s medication history for the last 14 months was also viewed.
To mitigate the risk of identity theft, the government said it will provide free credit monitoring to affected individuals. People who had their personal information compromised should expect a letter on how to access this service.
The ministries of Health, Finance, and Technology, Innovation and Citizens’ Services have launched an investigation and taken immediate steps to stop the breaches, and is working to implement “more robust security measures” with PharmaNet vendors, said the health ministry.
An independent security review of PharmaNet and an overall modernization of the system, which would include security enhancements, are also underway.
