Some of the data on the tapes was password-protected at the application level, while the rest was stored in proprietary file formats without password protection. After the incident, the company added more security technologies, including encryption.

The information on the disks and tapes included names, addresses, dates of birth, physicians' names, insurance data, diagnoses, prescriptions and some lab results. Social Security numbers were included with the records of about 250,000 of the patients, according to the health system. Some of the records also included patient financial information, it said.

Providence said it has received no verified reports that the stolen data has been used illegally.