Telehealth software and patient communication software have brought about considerable changes in healthcare. But, technology has its own disadvantages. Hackers got access to personal data of 75,000 people in a breach of government health insurance system as disclosed by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

The hacked system was connected to the healthcare.gov website, where the general public can sign up for healthcare coverage.

CMS detected suspicious activity on the federal exchange’s direct enrollment pathway for agents and brokers. This direct enrollment pathway allows agents to assist consumers to get healthcare coverage through the federal exchange.

The officials mentioned that the hacked system was shut down and technicians were trying to restore it before sign-up season that begins in November for healthcare coverage under the Affordable Care Act.

CMS said that the breach was “unacceptable” but noted that it was a “small fraction of consumer records.”

Suspicious activity was detected on October 13 and the breach was declared on October 16. The accounts of agents and brokers impacted by the attack were deactivated and the direct enrollment pathway was disabled.

CMS said that it was taking all the steps to restore the pathway within the next 7 days.