A Tuscaloosa-based ambulance service is notifying 82,450 patients of a data breach that happened in September 2022 and could have compromised sensitive information including social security numbers and insurance data.

NorthStar Emergency Medical Services posted a notice on its website and is reaching out to individual patients by mail.

“While NorthStar has no evidence that any information potentially involved in this incident has been misused, out of an abundance of caution, NorthStar is informing affected individuals about the steps they can take to help protect their information,” according to a statement on the website.

NorthStar officials have reported the incident to law enforcement, according to their statement, but have not released information about who might be responsible for the breach.

Officials at the company noticed unusual activity on Sept. 16, 2022. They took steps to secure data and investigate the source of the disruption.

“As a result of the investigation, NorthStar learned that an unauthorized actor accessed certain data stored on its network,” the statement said. “NorthStar then undertook an in-depth and time-consuming review of the data in order to determine whether any personal or protected health information was affected by the incident. On March 8, 2023, as a result of this review, NorthStar determined that information belonging to certain individuals may have been impacted by the incident.”

NorthStar Emergency Medical Services has been serving the Tuscaloosa area since 1992, according to its website.

The company has established a toll free helpline to assist people who might have been affected by the breach. The number is 833-753-4562. More information about steps that can be taken to protect financial information and obtain credit reports can be found here.

The breach does not yet appear on the website of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Health providers have become popular targets for hacking and ransomware attacks. Last year, an ambulance service in New York’s Hudson Valley disclosed it had been targeted in an attack that affected more than 300,000 people.