By skyforbes 
What is the Iowa Medicaid Data Breach About?
The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services recently announced that 20,000 Iowa Medicaid recipients have had their information exposed to hackers. The data breach originated as an attack on the internal network of Independent Living Systems (ILS). ILS had been subcontracted by Telligen, a company contracted by Medicaid to perform annual member assessments. In the data breach, private information of some Iowa Medicaid recipients was compromised.
Data breaches like this one, and cyber crime such as ransomware can result in a long-term erosion of personal data privacy, as the hacked personally identifiable information may be traded or shared amongst cyber-criminals for years to come, on the internet, the dark web, or elsewhere.. This significantly increases the risk of further identity theft, financial fraud and massive headaches for consumers and victims. Information that is hacked can include sensitive personally identifiable information.
What Are the Biggest Data Breaches in Iowa History?
Iowa has had several notable and widespread data breaches in recent history:
Hy-Vee Data Breach (2019): Hy-Vee, a popular Midwestern grocery store chain, experienced a breach in their payment processing systems. The breach impacted numerous Hy-Vee locations, including their fuel pumps, restaurants, and some of their drive-thru coffee shops. The attackers gained unauthorized access to customers’ payment card information, including card numbers, names, and verification codes.
UnityPoint Health Data Breach (2018): UnityPoint Health, a healthcare system that operates hospitals and clinics in Iowa and neighboring states, suffered a major data breach. The breach involved unauthorized access to employee email accounts, potentially exposing sensitive patient information, such as medical records, treatment details, and personal information of over 1.4 million individuals.
Iowa State University (ISU) Data Breach (2019): Iowa State University reported a data breach that affected their network infrastructure. The breach resulted in unauthorized access to university servers and exposed personal information, including Social Security numbers and academic records, of approximately 29,780 current and former students, as well as some university employees.
Iowa Lottery Data Breach (2017): The Iowa Lottery suffered a data breach that affected its online platform. Attackers gained unauthorized access to about 2,000 lottery players’ accounts, compromising their personal information and exposing their payment card details.
How Do I Qualify for Compensation?
If you received a letter from Iowa Medicaid notifying you that your personal information was impacted in the data breach, read more here in order to find out if you may be eligible for significant compensation.