Pineland Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities Community Service Board this week confirmed it notified an undisclosed number of people about a November 2024 data breach that leaked the following personal info:
- Names
- Social Security numbers
- Dates of birth
- Medical info including:
- Billing info
- Treatments
- Dates of service
- Diagnoses
- Medical records
- Guardians
Ransomware gang Space Bears claimed responsibility for the breach in February 2025. The group says it stole patients’ personal info, documents, and medical histories.
Pineland has not verified Space Bears’ claim. We do not yet know whether Pineland paid a ransom, how much Space Bears demanded, or how attackers breached Pineland’s network. Comparitech contacted Pineland for comment and will update this article if it replies.
Pineland reported the data breach to the US Department of Health and Human Services, which says 501 people were affected. That figure might just be a placeholder, however, and the total number of victims could be higher.
“The investigation determined that certain Pineland systems were accessed by an unauthorized actor at various times between November 24, 2024 and January 20, 2025, and during this time, certain information stored within our environment was viewed or taken by the unauthorized actor,” says Pineland’s notice to victims.
Pineland’s notice does not mention any offer of free credit monitoring or identity theft protection for victims, as is the status quo following a breach of this severity.
Who are the Space Bears?
Space Bears is a Russian ransomware group believed to be a spin off of the Phobos ransomware group. Space Bears uses Phobos’ ransomware-as-a-service to infect devices and collect ransoms. Space Bears both locks down computers and steals data, forcing victims to pay both for a key to unlock computers and for not selling or publicly releasing stolen data.
Space Bears has claimed four confirmed ransomware attacks since it began posting victims on its data leak website in April 2024. It made another 54 unconfirmed attack claims since that haven’t been acknowledged by the targeted organizations.
All of Space Bears’ confirmed victims operate in the healthcare and social services sectors. They include:
- Sun City Pediatrics in Pennsylvania notified 10,000 Texans of a June 2024 breach
- Caisse Nationale de Prévoyance Sociale in Cameroon was hit by a breach in July 2024
- Intermed Hospital in Mongolia was hit by a breach in November 2024
Ransomware attacks on US government
Comparitech researchers logged 90 confirmed ransomware attacks on US government entities in 2024, compromising 2.35 million records.
Other recently confirmed such breaches include:
- Athens, OH County Board of Developmental Disabilities notified 3,100 people in of a May 2024 attack claimed by Phobos
- The city of McKinney, TX notified 17,751 people of an October 2024 breach claimed by Inc
- MassDevelopment, a development finance agency in Massachusetts, notified 1,039 people of a June 2024 data breach claimed by Cactus
Ransomware attacks on US government agencies and departments can both steal data and lock down computer systems. The attacker then demands a ransom to delete the stolen data and in exchange for a key to recover infected systems. If the target doesn’t pay, it could take weeks or even months to restore systems, and people whose data was stolen are put at greater risk of fraud. Ransomware can disrupt everything from communications to billing, payroll, access to data and applications, and online services.
In 2025 so far, we’ve tracked 11 confirmed ransomware attacks on US government agencies, plus 18 unconfirmed claims.
About Pineland Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities Community Service Board
Pineland BHDD, a.k.a. Pineland CSB, is a Georgia state public agency that provides mental health, developmental disabilities, and addictive disease services. Those services include outpatient mental health counseling, acute stabilization and detoxification, psychosocial rehabilitation, peer, residential services, and day and evening substance abuse treatment. Its operates 33 locations in Appling, Bulloch, Candler, Evans, Jeff/Davis, Tattnall, Toombs, and Wayne Counties.
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