Truckers’ Medical Records Leaked

Medical records belonging to truck drivers and rail workers may have been exposed following an alleged cyber-attack on an occupational healthcare provider in Virginia. 

Data apparently belonging to employees of the United Parcel Service (UPS) and Norfolk Southern Railroad was published online to a leak site by the gang behind Conti ransomware. The cyber-criminals claimed to have obtained the data during a December cyber-attack on Taylor Made Diagnostics (TMD).

The HIPAA Journal reported that the leaked data includes full names, Social Security numbers, details of medical examinations, drug and alcohol testing reports, and scans of driver’s licenses.

With locations in Chesapeake and Newport News, TMD is an operator of occupational health clinics used by transportation companies and government agencies. The company provides services including drug testing, CPR training, fit-for-duty evaluations, vaccinations, and respirator fit testing.

According to their website, TMD clients include the US military, the US Secret Service, the navy special warfare development group, BAE systems, Old Dominion University, the Social Security Administration, and the Virginia Department of Military Affairs.  

While TMD has not verified the alleged attack, FreightWaves reported that among the more than 3,000 TMD files leaked on January 8 were multiple health records for employees at both UPS and Norfolk Southern dated as recently as December 2020. 

In addition, the trucking news source spotted records belonging to employees of US government agencies, defense contractors, and multiple smaller trucking companies.

Norfolk Southern Railroad, which employs nearly 25,000 people in 22 states, said that it was investigating the veracity of the cyber-criminals’ claims.

“The security of our employees’ data is a priority for Norfolk Southern and a requirement for our vendors,” Norfolk Southern spokesperson Jeff DeGraff wrote in an email to FreightWaves.

“Norfolk Southern is looking into the issue but has no further comment at this time.”

UPS, which employs 362,000 people in the US and an additional 82,000 internationally, said it was also looking into the possible data breach. 

According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, in December alone, 37 US healthcare providers reported hacking or unspecified information technology incidents that compromised nearly 1.5 million patients.