What happened
- La Perouse LLC, a medical billing and coding management company, was hit by a cyberattack.
- The ransomware group “Everest” says it carried out the breach, posting about it on the dark web on August 8, 2025.
- The attacked data includes personally identifiable information (PII) and protected health information (PHI).
What was exposed
While the full scope isn’t public yet, this is what La Perouse and officials believe was compromised:
- Billing records and medical/health records
- Names, addresses, and dates of birth
- Social Security numbers and driver’s license numbers
- Insurance information, payment information
They say several thousand patients across multiple medical practices may be affected.
Why this matters
Here’s what this kind of breach can lead to:
- Identity theft. When SSNs or driver’s license numbers leak, those are high-value targets for fraud.
- Financial fraud. If payment or insurance info is exposed, someone might try to use it for unauthorized charges or claims.
- Health privacy risk. Medical history, diagnoses, treatments these are deeply personal data. Exposure can affect employment, insurance, and personal safety.
- Trust & legal risk. Patients expect privacy. A breach undermines that trust. There may be regulatory penalties (HIPAA in the U.S.) and lawsuits.
What La Perouse (and practices) are doing
- They reported the breach to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) on September 2, 2025.
- An investigation is underway to identify which individuals were affected.
- Affected medical practices and patients will be notified by mail.
What people affected should do
If you think your info may be exposed, here are sensible steps:
- Watch for communications from La Perouse or your medical provider. If they send letters, read carefully.
- Be skeptical of unexpected calls/emails that ask for more information. They could be phishing attempts.
- Monitor your financial accounts (bank, credit cards) for strange activity.
- Check your credit reports regularly. If you’re in the U.S., there are three major credit bureaus Equifax, Experian, TransUnion.
- Consider placing a fraud alert or a credit freeze with the credit bureaus.
- If you detect misuse (say, identity theft), take action and report to authorities, your insurer, etc.
Bigger picture & takeaways
- These kinds of attacks are becoming more frequent in healthcare. Medical data is especially valuable on the black market.
- Billing companies are often targets. They hold both personal & financial data, yet often have fewer defenses than large hospitals.
- Regulatory environment matters. Breaches like this highlight gaps in data protection, especially for third-party billing and coding firms.
What’s still unknown / what to watch for
- The exact number of people affected. They say “several thousand,” but not more detail yet.
- Whether the stolen data has already been misused, sold, or leaked beyond Everest’s announcement.
- What security failures allowed the breach was it human error, misconfiguration, outdated systems, or lack of oversight?
- What compensation or remediation La Perouse will offer. Will there be credit monitoring, identity protection, legal exposure?
Conclusion
Here’s the thing: this breach reminds us that any organization handling medical billing not just hospitals must be treated as a high risk. If you’re a patient, knowing what data you gave, who holds it, and how secure it is can make a big difference when something like this happens.
If you like, I can also write a version of this broken down for non-technical people (patients), or one focused on policy/regulation. Which angle do you prefer?