• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Sexton, Bailey Attorneys, PA

SEXTON BAILEY ATTORNEYS, PA an Arkansas Estate Planning & Trust Information Center

Sexton, Bailey Attorneys, PANorthwest Arkansas Estate Planning Attorneys(479) 443-0062

Client Vault
  • Home
  • Our Firm
    • Our Firm
    • About the American Academy
    • Advantages of Working With Our Firm
    • Attorney and Staff Profiles
    • News & Events
    • Our Reviews
    • Speaker Connection
  • Estate Planning
    • Asset Protection & Business Planning
    • Elder Law & Medicaid Services
    • Estate and Gift Tax Figures
    • Estate Planning Services
    • Family-Owned Businesses & Farms
    • Incapacity Planning
    • Legacy Planning
    • Pet Planning
    • SECURE Act
    • Special Needs Planning
    • Trust Administration & Probate
  • Webinars
  • Practice Areas
  • Resources
    • DocuBank
    • Elder Law Reports
    • Estate Planning Resources
      • Estate Planning Articles
      • Estate Planning Checkup
      • Estate Planning Definitions
      • Estate Planning Reports
      • Incapacity Planning Definitions
      • Is Your Estate Plan Outdated?
      • Top 10 Estate and Legacy Planning Techniques
    • FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
      • Estate Planning
      • Frequently Asked Questions for Families Without an Estate Plan
      • Legacy Wealth Planning
      • Medicaid Planning
      • Pet Planning
      • Trust Administration & Probate
    • Newsletters
    • Trust Administration & Probate Resources
      • Bereavement Resources
      • How to Know if You Need Extra Help With Your Grieving
      • Loss of a Loved One
      • The Mourner’s Bill of Rights
      • Things You Need To Do When a Loved One Passes Away With a Trust
      • Things You Need To Do When a Loved One Passes Away With a Will
      • Trust Administration & Probate Definitions
  • Reviews
    • Our Reviews
    • Review Us
  • Contact Us
  • Blog
Home / Medicaid / Security Breach in South Carolina Medicaid System

Security Breach in South Carolina Medicaid System

June 21, 2012 by Audra Bailey Wilcox Leave a Comment

A man in South Carolina has been charged with six counts in relation to an alleged identity theft incident that resulted in the loss of secure personal information for more than 225,000 South Carolina Medicaid patients. Christopher Lykes Jr., age 36, faces up to 10 years in prison if he’s convicted of the identity theft related charges. Mr. Lykes had been a project manager for the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, a position which allowed him to collect the confidential information. He then apparently sent this information to his own unsecured e-mail account, and may have sent it to at least one other person. Officials are still investigating the case.

After the data breach came to light on April 10th, South Carolina officials acted quickly and contacted the affected individuals with letters. They also provided notification letters to state Medicaid providers, and created a hotline where individuals can call for more information. State officials have since launched an investigation of the security procedures surrounding the computer systems that house sensitive Medicaid data.

Though the South Carolina data breach appears to be intentional, it is much smaller than the recent loss of patient information in Utah. In the Utah case, computer hackers located in eastern Europe found that a state employee had been using a weak password on a state computer server. The hackers used that weak password to steal information on almost 1,000,000 Utah Medicaid patients.

Both of these cases highlight the potential risks involved anytime you give personal information to anyone, including your healthcare providers. If you are worried about possibility of identity theft, you should closely monitor your credit reports and may want to consider a credit freeze. A credit freeze is when you contact each of the consumer credit bureaus and prevent them from issuing your credit report to anyone, thus preventing anyone from opening a new account in your name.

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Audra Bailey Wilcox
Audra Bailey Wilcox
Attorney at Sexton, Bailey Attorneys, PA
Audra Bailey Wilcox
Latest posts by Audra Bailey Wilcox (see all)
  • Bill Nye the Science Guy on Wearing Masks in Public - July 11, 2020
  • Low-Interest Loans: An Estate Planning Technique - June 23, 2020
  • Irrevocable Medicaid Trusts - June 16, 2020

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sexton, Bailey Attorneys, PA

Is Your Plan Outdated?

Subscribe to Our Blog

Office Address

Fayetteville
2766 Millenium Drive
Fayetteville, AR 72703
Phone: (479) 443-0062

Office Address

Prairie Grove
1100 Division Street, Suite 4
Prairie Grove, AR 72753
Phone: (479) 846-6026

Office Address

Farmington
6 West Main
Farmington, AR 72730
Phone: (479) 267-4441

Office Hours

Monday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday9:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Map

map for office
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

footer-logo

© 2021 American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.