Granite Wellness Centers & Pediatric Home Service Settle Class Action Data Breach Lawsuits

Posted by Steve Alder

Granite Wellness Centers in California and Pediatric Home Service in Minnesota have both settled lawsuits stemming from cyberattacks that exposed sensitive patient data.

Granite Wellness Centers Data Breach Settlement

Granite Wellness Centers, a network of drug addiction treatment centers in Northern California, has agreed to settle class action litigation over a January 2021 ransomware attack and data breach that affected up to 15,600 individuals. The attack was detected on or around January 5, 2021, and the forensic investigation confirmed that the ransomware actor acquired files containing sensitive patient data, including names, dates of birth, home addresses, dates of care, treatment information, treatment providers, health information, health insurance information, driver’s license numbers, medical histories, Social Security numbers, and bank account numbers.

The affected individuals were notified on or around March 5, 2021, and the first class action lawsuit was filed on June 14, 2023. An amended complaint was filed in September 2023 – Bente, et al. v. Granite Wellness Centers – in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Placer. The lawsuit asserted claims for negligence, negligence per se, breach of implied contract, unjust enrichment, and declaratory judgment. Granite Wellness Centers maintains that there was no wrongdoing and denies claims that the exposure of data caused any harm to individuals. Following mediation, all parties agreed to settle the litigation to avoid the cost and risk of a trial, with no admission of wrongdoing or liability by the defendant.

Granite Wellness Centers has agreed to establish a $725,000 settlement fund to cover all costs associated with the litigation, including attorneys’ fees (up to 33.33% of the fund), litigation expenses (up to $20,000), service awards for the class representatives (up to $2,000 per class representative), and class member benefits. There are three types of payments available to class members. A claim may be submitted for a pro rata cash payment, estimated to be approximately $750 per class member, but may be higher or lower depending on the number of claims submitted. A claim may be submitted for reimbursement of documented, unreimbursed losses due to the data breach up to a maximum of $5,000 per class member, and California residents at the time of the data breach may submit a claim for an additional statutory $100 cash payment.

The deadline for opting out and objecting is March 28, 2026. The deadline for submitting a claim is April 27, 2026, and the final fairness hearing has been scheduled for April 28, 2026.

Pediatric Home Service Data Breach Settlement

Pediatric Home Respiratory Services (Pediatric Home Service), a Roseville, MN-based independent children’s home healthcare provider, has agreed to settle litigation stemming from a November 2024 cyberattack and data breach. The lawsuit claims that 43,634 individuals were affected by the data breach. The HHS’ Office for Civil Rights was informed that the protected health information of 41,792 patients was exposed in the incident. The Pediatric Home Service cyberattack was detected on November 7, 2024, and the forensic investigation confirmed that an unauthorized third party accessed its network between November 1, 2024, and November 7, 2024. The affected individuals were notified on January 8, 2025.

Two class action lawsuits were filed in response to the data breach, which were consolidated into a single complaint – In re Pediatric Home Respiratory Services, LLC d/b/a Pediatric Home Service Litigation –in the District Court for Ramsey County, Minnesota. The lawsuit asserted claims of negligence, negligence per se, breach of implied contract, violation of the Minnesota Health Records Act, breach of fiduciary duty, declaratory judgment, and unjust enrichment. Pediatric Home Service denies all claims and contentions in the lawsuit and maintains there was no wrongdoing. Pediatric Home Service sought to have the lawsuit dismissed for lack of standing and failure to state a claim. The plaintiffs opposed the motion, and following mediation, a settlement was agreed to resolve the litigation.

There are two cash payment options, one of which can be selected by all class members. A claim may be submitted for reimbursement of documented, unreimbursed losses due to the data breach up to a maximum of $1,500 per class member. Alternatively, a one-time cash payment of $50 may be claimed. In addition, a claim may be submitted for a 12- month membership to one of three credit monitoring options: CyEx Medical Shield Complete, CyEx Identity Defense Total, or CyEx Minor Defense Pro (for minors). The deadline for objecting to the settlement and exclusion is April 8, 2026. The claims deadline is April 23, 2026, and the final fairness hearing has been scheduled for May 8, 2026.

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Cyberattacks Announced by WIRX Pharmacy and Emanuel Medical Center

Posted by Steve Alder

WIRX Pharmacy in Pennsylvania has experienced a security incident that exposed the protected health information of more than 20,000 current and former patients. Emanuel Medical Center in California has started notifying patients about a May 2025 cyberattack that exposed patient data.

WIRX Pharmacy, Pennsylvania

WIRX Pharmacy in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, has notified 20,104 individuals about a December 2025 cybersecurity incident that may have resulted in unauthorized access and/or theft of protected health information. Suspicious activity was identified within its network environment on or around December 7, 2025. Systems were secured, and an investigation was launched, which confirmed unauthorized access to certain data on its systems between December 6, 2025, and December 7, 2025.

A review of the exposed files confirmed that personal and protected health information were present in files on the compromised parts of its network. The affected data varies from individual to individual and may include names in combination with one or more of the following: clinical information (diagnosis/conditions, medications, and other treatment information), demographic information (Social Security number, address, date of birth, and other identifiers), and financial account or claims information.

WIRX Pharmacy said it is reviewing its security policies and procedures and will take steps to harden security to prevent similar incidents in the future. The affected individuals have been advised to remain vigilant against identity theft and fraud by monitoring their financial accounts and free credit reports.

Emanuel Medical Center, California

Emanuel Medical Center, a 209-bed acute care hospital located in Turlock, California, has started notifying current and former patients about a May 2025 security incident. Suspicious network activity was identified on May 22, 2025, and third-party cybersecurity experts were engaged to investigate the activity. They confirmed unauthorized access to its network between May 21 and May 24, 2025, and that files containing personal and protected health information were present on the affected systems.

The review of those files has recently been completed, and notification letters started to be mailed to the affected individuals on February 17, 2026. Data compromised in the incident varies from individual to individual and may include names, dates of birth, contact information, government identification numbers (including Social Security numbers and driver’s license numbers), health insurance information, patient identification numbers, dates of service, provider names, diagnoses, treatment information, prescriptions, medical histories, and lab reports.

Third-party cybersecurity experts have evaluated security and assisted with strengthening system security. The affected individuals have been advised to remain vigilant against identity theft and fraud by monitoring their accounts and free credit reports for suspicious activity. The incident is not yet shown on the HHS’ Office for Civil Rights breach portal, so it is currently unclear how many individuals have been affected.

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Top of the World Treatment Center Settles Alleged Risk Analysis HIPAA Violation

Posted by Steve Alder

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has announced its first financial penalty of the year to resolve an alleged violation of the HIPAA Rules. Top of the World Treatment Center, a Milan, Illinois-based addiction treatment provider, has agreed to pay a $103,000 financial penalty to settle an allegation that it violated the risk analysis requirement of the HIPAA Security Rule.

The number of data breaches reported to OCR involving hacking increased by 239% between 2018 and 2023, and hacking incidents have continued to be reported in high numbers since. In an effort to improve healthcare cybersecurity and reduce the number of successful hacking incidents, OCR launched an enforcement initiative targeting noncompliance with a specific requirement of the HIPAA Security Rule – the risk analysis. The risk analysis is one of the most important HIPAA requirements for improving security.

The enforcement initiative is intended to make it harder for hackers to succeed by ensuring that the vulnerabilities they exploit to gain access to healthcare networks are identified and addressed in a timely manner. OCR’s HIPAA compliance audits and data breach investigations consistently uncovered risk analysis failures, including failures to conduct a risk analysis and incomplete risk analyses. If healthcare organizations do not conduct a comprehensive, organization-wide risk analysis to identify all risks to the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of electronic protected health information (ePHI), risks and vulnerabilities will remain and can potentially be exploited by hackers.

Including the latest penalty, OCR has resolved 11 investigations of ePHI breaches with settlements or civil monetary penalties for alleged violations of the risk analysis provision of the HIPAA Security Rule. “In a time where health care providers and other HIPAA-regulated entities are facing unprecedented cybersecurity threats, compliance with the HIPAA Risk Analysis provision is more essential than ever,” said OCR Director Paula M. Stannard. “Covered entities and business associates cannot protect electronic protected health information if they haven’t identified potential risks and vulnerabilities to that health information.”

The incident that prompted OCR’s investigation of Top of the World Treatment Center was a phishing incident. An employee was tricked by a phishing email into disclosing their credentials, which allowed a hacker to access a single business email account for several hours on November 17, 2022. The email account was reviewed and found to contain the ePHI of 1,980 individuals, including their names, Social Security numbers, diagnosis information, treatment information, and health insurance information.

OCR investigated and could not be provided with evidence to confirm that a HIPAA-compliant risk analysis had been conducted prior to the data breach, in violation of 45 C.F.R. § 164.308(a)(1)(ii)(A) of the HIPAA Security Rule. Under the current enforcement initiative, financial penalties will be imposed for risk analysis failures. OCR notified Top of the World Treatment Center of its intention to impose a financial penalty to address the alleged violation, and offered to settle the alleged violation informally. Settlements involve a reduced financial penalty, although the HIPAA-regulated entity must adopt a corrective action plan.

Top of the World Treatment Center is required to conduct a comprehensive, organization-wide risk analysis to identify all risks and vulnerabilities to the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of ePHI. Based on the risk analysis, a risk management plan must be developed and implemented to reduce all identified risks and vulnerabilities to a low and acceptable level. After the initial risk analysis, Top of the World Treatment Center must conduct an accurate and thorough risk analysis at least annually, and subject risks to a HIPAA-compliant risk management process.

Further, policies and procedures must be developed, implemented, and maintained to comply with the HIPAA Rules, specifically covering risk analyses, risk management, information system activity reviews, and breach notifications. The new policies must be distributed to the workforce, training materials must be developed (and approved by OCR), and HIPAA training must be provided to the workforce.

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Data Shows Elevenfold Increase in Data-only Extortion Attacks

Posted by Steve Alder

There has been a sharp increase in data-only extortion incidents, with ransomware gangs increasingly opting not to encrypt files, instead simply breaching networks, exfiltrating sensitive data, and demanding a ransom payment to prevent the data from being leaked or sold.

Ransomware started to become popular with threat actors in the early to mid-2010s. Attacks involved breaching networks and using robust encryption to prevent data access. The emergence of untraceable cryptocurrencies helped fuel an explosion in ransomware attacks. In the mid-2010s, encryption alone proved to be sufficient, with the majority of victims opting to pay to recover their data. By 2020, double extortionbecame more prevalent, where data is stolen prior to file encryption. A ransom payment is required to obtain the decryption keys and prevent the publication or sale of stolen data. Double extortion fast became the norm, with the majority of ransomware attacks involving data theft and extortion.

The rapid rise in ransomware attacks forced organizations to address their data backup policies. While attacks may involve deletion or encryption of backups, victims are now much more likely to have offline backup copies of critical data that they can use to recover from the encryption with minimal data loss. It is often the threat of sale or leaking of exfiltrated data that is the primary reason for paying a ransom, as organizations seek to limit reputational damage.

Data encryption increases the chances of detection, attacks take longer, and fewer victims are paying ransoms to recover encrypted data. Threat actors understand that the reputational harm caused by data leaks is often enough, and some groups have abandoned encryption altogether. For example, PEAR (Pure Extortion and Ransom), a newly formed threat group that emerged in 2025, has exclusively adopted data-only extortion, as has the Silent Ransom group.

The recently published Arctic Wolf 2026 Threat Report confirms that ransomware attacks continue to be lucrative for threat actors. Ransomware attacks accounted for 44% ofArctic Wolf’s incident response (IR) cases from November 2024 to November 2025, exactly the same percentage as the previous reporting period. While there have been significant law enforcement operations targeting the most prolific ransomware groups – LockBit, ALPHV/BlackCat, and BlackSuit – those actions have had little effect on reducing the volume of attacks, and have simply shifted the ransomware ecosystem. There has been a proliferation of smaller groups, and some groups have stepped up attack volume to fill the vacuum.

Arctic Wolf’s report highlights the growing trend of data extortion-only attacks, which increased elevenfold between November 2024 and November 2025.  Data extortion-only attacks increased from 2% of Arctic Wolf’s IR cases in the previous reporting period to 22% in the current reporting period. “We’re seeing a clear pivot in attacker behavior. As organizations improve their ability to recover from encryption events, some threat actors are skipping ransomware altogether and moving straight to data theft and extortion,” said Kerri Shafer-Page, VP of Incident Response, Arctic Wolf. “From an incident response perspective, this shift fundamentally changes how impact is assessed and managed.”

Arctic Wolf said the increase in data extortion-only attacks shows that threat groups are willing and able to evolve when needed, and attributes the rise in attacks to organizations being better prepared and able to recover quickly from traditional encryption events. Arctic Wolf reports that ransomware actors are maturing their affiliate ecosystems and are now operating very much like business enterprises, with structured affiliate programs, tiered revenue models, and operational support to attract and retain a broader pool of cybercriminals.

Arctic Wolf also reports a prominent trend of diversification of ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) offerings, where, in addition to a percentage of any ransom payments, affiliates are offered data extortion and access monetization, allowing them to profit from stolen data and compromised credentials without having to encrypt files with ransomware. For the time being, at least, Arctic Wolf has not observed any significant increase in activity from groups with these offerings. What has had an immediate impact is groups absorbing affiliates from other RaaS programs, such as Qilin, which recruited affiliates from the RansomHub operation when it shut down, and rapidly accelerated attacks and became the most prolific threat group.

Aside from ransomware, Business Email Compromise (BEC) continues to be favored by hackers, accounting for 26% of Arctic Wolf’s IR cases, although the targets were primarily finance and legal firms, rather than healthcare organizations. While phishing is the leading initial access vector for BEC attacks, other hacking incidents mostly involved attacks on remote access tools, remote monitoring and management software, and VPNs. These access vectors were used in around two-thirds of non-BEC IR cases, up from 24% three years ago. The exploitation of vulnerabilities has fallen from 26% of IR cases in the previous reporting period to just 11% in the current reporting period.

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