A cyberattack targeted the health records of hundreds of veterinarians in Minnesota

Officials say hundreds of military veterans in Minnesota are among more than 2,300 across the country whose health information was targeted in a cybersecurity attack.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced Friday that its Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is sending letters to 2,302 veterans informing them of “potential disclosures of protected health information.”

The VA said the attack victimized a server managed by DBP Inc., a private medical transcription provider based in Detroit. DBP representatives were not immediately available Friday to respond to the VA’s announcement.

The affected documents included some or all of the following information: full name, medical record information and Social Security number, according to the VA.

“VHA staff conducted a thorough investigation,” the VA notice said, “and determined that this cybersecurity attack did not impact medical record information in the VA’s electronic health records.”

The cyber detectives encrypted the records stored by the DBP before they were potentially copied, the VA said. In response, DBP shut down its server and disconnected it from the Internet to prevent further attacks, purchased new hardware and implemented new security controls for its devices, the VA said.

A total of 616 Minnesota veterans were attacked, according to the VA. Only the VA health system in Amarillo, Texas, had veterans’ health data more affected (1,069).

Veterans with questions or concerns may call and leave a message at 1-844-838-5433, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Calls will be returned within two business days.