MMG Fusion Data Breach - What Happened? **UPDATED**

Founded in 2015, MMG Fusion is dedicated to creating innovative technology solutions that help dentists build thriving practices by making front office management and practice marketing simple and intuitive. By creating a revolutionary dental practice management software, MMG Fusion allowed dentists to fill chairs, expand their practice, increase revenues while lowering expenses and overhead.

The MMG Fusion developed a cloud-based suite of tools for dentists to improve their office performance, expand their number of patients, and fill "empty chairs" during their daily schedules.

The system (dental marketing software) is accessed via a browser window on the internet, and the strength of this system is that it is available as an "all-in-one integrated system" or, for dental practices who have distinct needs who don't require the full suite can choose separate modules.

The modules include:

• patient communication
• patient engagement
• online marketing
• search optimization
• social media marketing
• online reputation management
• incoming call recording and tracking
• schedule optimization
• ROI assessment

Client data and user records are stored and secured on the server.

A breach in December 2020 of the webserver controlled by MMG Fusion occurred and customer information and user records were taken. This was confirmed by MMG Fusion.

This is detailing the usage and features of MMG Fusion software for dentists, which allow for pop-ups to occur in order to alert users of new messages. These can be seen as a way to improve patient communications.

This phrase is tied to Cyber Security. Most feel if they don't own a company and are just a home user, the threat of having their data compromised is low. This is untrue in today's reality of sophisticated "hackers" who should, instead, be referred to as terrorists.

Simply put, a "threat actor" or "threat actors" is defined as a person or persons who performs an intentional malicious action against your internet security with the sole purpose of obtaining confidential/personal information for the use of identiy theft to apply for loans or other options to obtain funds in someone else's name. This can damage a person's credit, or in the case of a corporation, it can bring the business functions to its knees as we saw with the cyberattacks on the oil pipeline and meat processing plants in the first half of 2021.

Types of Threat Actors

Cybercriminal: (CTA) is a participant (person or group) in an action or process that is characterized by malice or hostile action (intending harm) using computers, devices, systems, or networks.

Insider Threats: An insider threat is a security risk that originates within the targeted organization. This doesn't mean that the actor must be a current employee or officer in the organization. They could be a consultant, former employee, business partner, or board member.

Nation States: Defining what a "nation-state threat actor" is may seem like a simple task: a hacker or group of hackers working with an adversarial government that commits acts of cybercrime against the U.S. or its allies.

In short, a cyber threat intelligence analyst (CTIA) looks for potential threats to stored data and either makes recommendations on how to secure the data from threats or makes the necessary changes or upgrades to the system themselves.

Some say the job is less stressful than most tech jobs, however, I doubt the stress is low when a cyber attack is successful. 

The job pays well with an average annual salary of $110k according to ZipRecruiter.