The British Dental Association (BDA) – the professional association and registered trade union organisation for dentists in the United Kingdom – has told its members that it is still not sure exactly what was accessed in a breach on 30 July. However, although a spokeswoman told the BBC it was possible that information about patients was exposed. The BDA has urged members to be wary of any correspondence from organisations alleging to be from a bank. According to an email sent out to members, the BDA referred to “logs of correspondence and notes of cases” as some of the information reportedly stolen. BDA chief executive, Martin Woodrow, claims that an investigation into the extent of the hack is still ongoing.
Although the BDA does not keep record of members’ card details, it does hold account numbers and sort codes to collect direct-debit payments.
This comes as a major concern, particularly during a period of such unprecedented financial uncertainty.
According to ProPrivacy’s digital privacy expert, Attila Tomaschek, the breach could have severe consequences for affected members. Cyber criminals could exploit information as a “launching pad” for gathering additional personal information from those affected.