Member, Patient Information May Have Been Exposed in British Dental Association Breach

Kristen Zanoni | August 5, 2020

Category: Data Breach

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The British Dental Association’s (BDA) server was illegally hacked by an unknown cyber attacker on 30 July, compromising the personal information of members and potentially patients.

Members of the British Dental Association were notified of the BDA breach in an email and were alerted that their sensitive personal data had potentially been breached, according to the BBC. Personal data that may have been compromised by cyber attackers includes names, contact information, banking information, case notes and possibly more.

According to the BBC, a British Dental Association spokeswoman reported that a breach of members’ personal information has occurred, but there is uncertainty about what personal member information was accessed.

The spokeswoman said it was possible patient data had been exposed but was vague about the circumstances, according to the BBC report.

The British Dental Association’s email to its members notifying them about potentially hacked personal information and/or patient records said the cyber attackers could have accessed insurance claim correspondence logs and case notes, which could contain private patient information.

However, a later clarification from the British Dental Association’s spokeswoman said otherwise. The spokeswoman told BBC that correspondence logs and case notes were regarding trade union work serving members’ concerns instead.

The British Dental Association says it does not keep full patient records in their possession.

The organisation will contact individuals who might have had their personal information violated.

The investigation is ongoing, and more information is likely to be released.

The investigation may yield suspects or the exact information that was accessed.

The BDA’s website has been shut down and offline after first going offline on 30 July.

Upon getting the website back up, it became apparent that there had been a cyber attack and member information might have been violated by hackers.

The British Dental Association is working to understand the full scope of the BDA breach and reestablish its online services as soon as possible, Yahoo! News reported.

Members of the British Dental Association should be vigilant about their information or banking details due to the situation, according to Dental Review.

The BDA supposedly does not keep account numbers when gathering direct debit card payments.

All members of the Britsh Dental Association should be extra cautious when receiving emails or calls in the wake of the incident.

Scammers involved in the BDA breach may claim to be from a bank or a BDA representative trying to collect more personal information to continue their scam.

Legitimate calls or emails from authentic companies do not ask for debit card or banking information.

BDA chief executive Martin Woodrow said an investigation into the matter is being completed. He did not confirm the full context of the potentially accessed information and he expressed his deepest apologies.

“Owing to sophistication of these criminals we cannot, as yet, confirm the full extent of information that has been accessed,” Woodrow said in a statement regarding the data breach. “We are devastated and apologise unreservedly for this breach. We have informed the Information Commissioner’s Office and we are contacting any individuals we think may be affected. Additionally, we are also working around the clock to restore and rebuild our systems. We will keep members updated as the situation develops.”

If members have any questions or concerns about the BDA breach, the following email addresses can be used to gain some clarity on the situation: