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SecurityFocus.com revealed that a hacker broke into the University of Washington Medical Center's internal network earlier this year, and downloaded admissions records for four thousand heart patients. The hacker started in June, and continued until at least mid-July, before network administrators at the Seattle teaching hospital detected the hacker and cut him off. Security Focus reports that the medical center said they were unaware that patient records were downloaded, and elected not to notify law enforcement agencies of the intrusions.

The hacker said that all the data taken from these computers was taken over the Internet, and that all the machines were exposed without any firewalls of any kind. SecurityFocus.com reviewed portions of the databases the hacker downloaded. One of the files catalogs the name, address, birth date, social security number, height and weight of over four thousand cardiology patients, along with each medical procedure they underwent. Another file provides similar information on seven hundred physical rehabilitation patients. A third file chronicles every admission, discharge and transfer within the hospital during a five-month period.