Valley Eye Associates 2025 Data Breach
ObscureIQ Breach Intelligence
High SeverityWebsite / service breach
Valley Eye Associates (WI) Ophthalmology Breach (2025): Patient Medical, Insurance & ID Records Exposed via Qilin Ransomware
Ophthalmology and eye care practice.
Verified by ObscureIQ Intelligence
94/100Breach Risk Index
52Data Value
60Market Recency
145dSince Breach
Breach Intelligence Summary
Entity: Valley Eye Associates · Actor: Qilin · Sources: 2 references
Attack: Ransomware / Extortion
Profile: Healthcare provider · Vision and ophthalmology services · Specialty clinic network · USA
Timeline: Breach (2025-10-08) · Year (2025)
Exposure: 44K records · 9 fields: Date of Birth, Email Address, Full Name, Government ID, Health Insurance, Medical Diagnosis, Phone Number, Postal Code, Social Security Number
Status: Confirmed
Executive Summary
Valley Eye Associates, an ophthalmology/optometry/LASIK practice in Appleton, Wisconsin, suffered a ransomware attack around October 8-9, 2025 attributed to the Qilin group, which exfiltrated roughly 139 GB of data and published it after the ransom went unpaid. The exposed data included names, dates of birth, gender, addresses/zip codes, insurance information, patient IDs, encounter/claim details, and procedure/diagnosis information; the record also lists Social Security numbers. About 44,007 records are recorded (pending an official individual count). The practice reported a data security incident and is notifying affected individuals.
ObscureIQ assessment: High risk of identity theft, insurance fraud, and treatment-themed phishing. Healthcare affiliation also creates privacy harm even when the exposed record set is limited.
Breach Impact
The published Qilin dataset combined identity and clinical data, including names, dates of birth, insurance details, patient IDs, procedures/diagnoses, and government-identification details (and, per the record, Social Security numbers), creating identity-theft, insurance-fraud, and medical-fraud risk. Eye-condition diagnoses (such as glaucoma or macular degeneration) add sensitivity, and the public release of the data raises the likelihood of downstream misuse and targeted scams.
About Valley Eye Associates
Valley Eye Associates is an ophthalmology, optometry, and LASIK eye-surgery practice based in Appleton, Wisconsin, providing comprehensive vision and eye-surgery care. It maintains patient identity, insurance, billing, appointment, and clinical/ophthalmic treatment records.
Why They Hold Your Data
Ophthalmology practices collect patient identity, contact, insurance, billing, appointment, and treatment records tied to specialty vision care.
Recent Developments
The Qilin ransomware group accessed Valley Eye Associates' network around October 8-9, 2025, exfiltrating roughly 139 GB of data and publishing it after the ransom was not paid. The practice reported a data security incident and began reviewing affected files to notify individuals; class-action investigations followed.
Data Points Exposed
9 verified field types
Date of Birth High
Email Address
Full Name High
Government ID Critical
Health Insurance
Medical Diagnosis Critical
Phone Number
Postal Code
Social Security Number Critical
Field names are shown in full for clarity and search visibility. Canonical machine keys are emitted only in this page’s structured data.
Exploitation & Downstream Threats
Threat Activity:Critical
Primary downstream threats:
- Identity theft and synthetic identity construction using SSN/government ID and DOB
- Medical identity fraud and insurance abuse using diagnosis, procedure, and insurance data
- Targeted phishing and vishing referencing eye care or claims
- Geographic narrowing/targeting from zip code
- SIM swap attacks where phone numbers are present
Threat vectors:
- Full identity theft & synthetic identity fraud
- Medical extortion, insurance fraud & discrimination
- Name-based social engineering
- SIM swapping, vishing & SMS phishing
- Geographic narrowing
- Identity verification bypass
Threat Actor: Qilin
Qilin
Ransomware / Extortion
Attribution and method are based on available breach intelligence. Reported attack vector: Ransomware / Extortion.
Recommended Actions
If you believe your information may be included:
Protect Your ID Documents
Government-ID exposure enables document fraud — monitor and report misuse.
Enable MFA Everywhere
Turn on multi-factor authentication on email first, then financial accounts.
Report & Recover
If you spot misuse, start an official recovery plan and report fraud.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happened in the Valley Eye Associates breach?▾
Valley Eye Associates, an ophthalmology/optometry/LASIK practice in Appleton, Wisconsin, suffered a ransomware attack around October 8-9, 2025 attributed to the Qilin group, which exfiltrated roughly 139 GB of data and published it after the ransom went unpaid. The exposed data included names,…
What data was exposed?▾
Verified fields include Date of Birth, Email Address, Full Name, Government ID, Health Insurance, Medical Diagnosis, Phone Number, Postal Code, Social Security Number.
What should I do if I was affected?▾
Change reused passwords, enable MFA, and (if identity or financial data is involved) freeze your credit and monitor your accounts.
Sources & References
Every claim on this page is traceable. This breach draws on:
Breach Index
ObscureIQ Intelligence
ObscureIQ proprietary analysis
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