TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Aspen Dental, whose headquarters are based in Chicago, has experienced a cybersecurity incident and is currently working to resolve the matter. 

The issue crippled Aspen Dental’s ability to access scheduling systems, phone systems, and other business applications.

The Aspen Group has not confirmed if patient information has been compromised.

The cybersecurity incident was discovered at Aspen Dental on April 25, but the company is not sharing when it expects everything will be back to normal. 

The issue is preventing Aspen Dental from accepting new patients. However, Aspen Dental says their offices are open and they are continuing to care for patients.

Aspen Dental released the following statement:

“Our investigation into the scope of the incident is in its early stages and remains ongoing. If it is determined that any sensitive, personal information may have been involved in the incident, we will notify those individuals in accordance with applicable law and as quickly as possible.”

The healthcare industry is a bullseye for hackers who engage in cyber-criminal activity.

“It usually starts with a phishing attack,” said Tony Sabaj, head of engineering for Check Point Software Technologies. “It means you’re getting a person within the organization to click on a link or download a file.”

Sabaj has more than 25 years of experience in cyber, network, and IT security. Since the pandemic, he’s noticed the healthcare industry has been vulnerable to hackers since hospitals and healthcare delivery organizations were spread thin.

“Complete healthcare records can go anywhere from $150 to $1,000 a record depending on how complete those records are and how much data is in there,” Sabaj said.  “Compared to a credit card number or even a social security number which are going for single digit dollars on the dark web.”

Aspen Dental has multiple locations across the Chicago region.