Virginia notifies breach victims

The Virginia Department of Health Professions this week began notifying about 530,000 people whose Social Security number was part of records that may have been exposed when hackers gained access to the agency's Prescription Monitoring Program database. The agency learned of the compromise when it received letters that the culprits were demanding a $10 million ransom be paid, or they would release some eight million patient records. State officials still are unsure what information may be at risk but said they are sending the letters as a precaution. — DK