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The New Jewish Home, a senior health care system based on the Upper West Side at 120 West 106th Street, is facing a lawsuit from its patients after a data breach exposed the health information of over 100,000 individuals.
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In January 2024, The New Jewish Home, which also operates two additional senior care facilities and home care services in the Bronx and Westchester, was hacked by the ransomware group ALPHV/BlackCat. The breach compromised social security numbers, birthdates, and health insurance information of approximately 104,000 elderly individuals. Patients were notified of the attack earlier this month. On Wednesday, August 28, patients filed a lawsuit against The New Jewish Home, citing a heightened lifetime risk of identity theft—a vulnerability to which seniors are particularly susceptible, according to studies.
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“Sophisticated companies like [New Jewish Home] are aware of the various threat actors operating across the internet,” the lawsuit states, emphasizing that it is “imperative” for the organization to protect itself against such crimes, according to Crain’s New York Business. Despite generating nearly $150 million in operating revenue in 2022, The New Jewish Home failed to prevent its data from being exposed on the dark web.
ALPHV/BlackCat claimed responsibility for the cyber attack in February, according to the law firms investigating the breach. However, The New Jewish Home did not confirm the group’s claims and only discovered the breach in July, as noted in the filings with Maine’s state attorney general. The attack also affected approximately two dozen Maine residents.
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Patients assert that they were not informed of the breach until mid-August, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit contends that The New Jewish Home failed to encrypt sensitive health information, delete unnecessary data from its system, and review or enhance its cybersecurity protections. This highlights an ongoing effort to hold organizations accountable for the protection of sensitive information.
Cybersecurity experts are warning that hospitals across the country face an increased risk of cyber attacks. In 2022, New York had the third-highest rate of ransomware attacks and data breaches, with healthcare organizations bearing the greatest risk, according to a report from the state comptroller’s office. Additionally, in 2023, healthcare data breaches affected 1 in 3 Americans.
