Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) Breach Incident Score: Analysis & Impact (AHC4751347110825)

In this Rankiteo incident briefing, we review the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) breach identified under incident ID AHC4751347110825.

The analysis begins with a detailed overview of Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS)'s information like the linkedin page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ahcccs, the number of followers: 10651, the industry type: Hospitals and Health Care and the number of employees: 1201 employees

After the initial compromise, the video explains how Rankiteo's incident engine converts technical details into a normalized incident score. The incident score before the incident was 766 and after the incident was 691 with a difference of -75 which is could be a good indicator of the severity and impact of the incident.

In the next step of the video, we will analyze in more details the incident and the impact it had on Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) and their customers.

On 26 September 2023, Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) disclosed data breach, human error and miscommunication issues under the banner "Arizona Medicaid (AHCCCS) Misaddressed Email Data Breach".

Arizona’s Medicaid program (AHCCCS) accidentally sent emails containing private health information of over 3,000 Arizonans to the wrong recipients due to a human error in preparing an email distribution list via Constant Contact.

The disruption is felt across the environment, affecting email distribution system (Constant Contact), and exposing names, AHCCCS identification numbers and health plan names, with nearly 3,177 records at risk.

In response, teams activated the incident response plan, moved swiftly to contain the threat with measures like halted mailing process, and began remediation that includes internal investigation and notified affected members, while recovery efforts such as implemented more robust quality assurance process for member communications continue, and stakeholders are being briefed through press release, encouraged affected members to use free credit reporting services and advised reporting suspicious activity to law enforcement and AHCCCS.

The case underscores how internal investigation completed; corrective measures implemented, teams are taking away lessons such as Importance of robust quality assurance processes for handling sensitive member communications, especially in email distribution systems. Human error in data handling can lead to significant privacy incidents even without malicious intent, and recommending next steps like Implement automated validation checks for email distribution lists to prevent misaddressed communications, Enhance staff training on data handling and privacy protocols, particularly for bulk communications and Conduct regular audits of communication processes involving sensitive data, with advisories going out to stakeholders covering affected members notified; encouraged to monitor credit reports and report suspicious activity.

Finally, we try to match the incident with the MITRE ATT&CK framework to see if there is any correlation between the incident and the MITRE ATT&CK framework.

The MITRE ATT&CK framework is a knowledge base of techniques and sub-techniques that are used to describe the tactics and procedures of cyber adversaries. It is a powerful tool for understanding the threat landscape and for developing effective defense strategies.

Rankiteo's analysis has identified several MITRE ATT&CK tactics and techniques associated with this incident, each with varying levels of confidence based on available evidence. Under the Initial Access tactic, the analysis identified Phishing: Spearphishing Link (Accidental Misdelivery) (T1566.002) with moderate to high confidence (70%), with evidence including misaddressed emails containing private health information to 3,177 individuals via Constant Contact, and human error in preparing email distribution list. Under the Collection tactic, the analysis identified Automated Collection (T1119) with moderate to high confidence (85%), supported by evidence indicating email distribution list via Constant Contact containing names, AHCCCS identification numbers, health plan names. Under the Exfiltration tactic, the analysis identified Exfiltration Over Unencrypted/Obfuscated Non-C2 Protocol: Email (T1048.003) with high confidence (90%), with evidence including inadvertently sent misaddressed emails containing private health information, and email distribution system (Constant Contact) used to expose data. Under the Impact tactic, the analysis identified Data Destruction (Reputational) (T1485) with moderate to high confidence (80%), with evidence including potential reputational harm due to mishandling of private health information, and potential HIPAA violation (unintentional disclosure of PHI) and Network Denial of Service: Internal Resource Starvation (T1498.002) with moderate to high confidence (70%), supported by evidence indicating halted mailing process due to incident response. These correlations help security teams understand the attack chain and develop appropriate defensive measures based on the observed tactics and techniques.