The Fort Wayne Medical Education Program over the weekend confirmed it notified 29,485 people of a December 2024 data breach that compromised the personal info of employees and their dependents. The breached data contains:
- Names
- Social Security numbers
- State-issued ID numbers (e.g. driver’s license, passport)
- Dates of birth
- Bank account numbers
- Credit and payment card numbers (but not CVCs)
- Personal health info, including…
- Medical history
- Health insurance info
- Medical billing info
The Indiana medical residency program first disclosed (PDF) the breach to the public in February 2025.
Ransomware gang Inc took credit for the breach in December 2024 and said it stole 66 GB of data from FWMEP. To prove its claim, Inc posted an image of what it says is a file directory stolen from FWMEP.
FWMEP has not verified Inc’s claim. We do not know if FWMEP paid a ransom, how much Inc demanded, or how attackers breached FWMEP’s network. Comparitech contacted FWMEP for comment and will update this article if it replies.
“On December 17, 2024, we discovered suspicious activity in our network,” says FWMEP’s notice to victims. “As part of the investigation, we learned that certain data may have been accessed or acquired by an unauthorized actor between December 12, 2024 and December 17, 2024.”
FWMEP is offering victims free credit monitoring and identity theft protection through IDX. The deadline to enroll is January 2, 2026.
Who is Inc?
Inc Ransomware emerged in July 2023 and targets a wide range of victims in healthcare, education, and government. Its methods involve spear phishing and exploiting known vulnerabilities in software. Once infected, Inc’s malware both steals data and locks down computer systems until a ransom is paid to unlock them.
Inc has taken credit for 128 confirmed ransomware attacks since it began, plus more than 300 unconfirmed attack claims that haven’t been publicly acknowledged by the targeted organizations.
15 of Inc’s confirmed attacks hit schools, universities, and other educational institutions. It compromised more than 69,000 records in those attacks.
Earlier this year, we confirmed two Inc attacks in the education sector:
- Centre de Services Scolaire des Appalaches (Canada) disclosed an August 2025 data breach. Inc says it stolen 194.2 GB of data.
- University of St. Thomas (USA) reported a nine-day system outage in August 2025. Inc says it stole 1.8 TB of data.
In 2025 to date, Inc has claimed 41 confirmed attacks and made 218 unconfirmed claims across all sectors.
Ransomware attacks on US education
Comparitech researchers logged 83 confirmed ransomware attacks on US schools, colleges, and other educational institutions in 2024, compromising more than 3 million records. The average ransom demand was $827,000.
In 2025 to date, we’ve logged 32 such attacks compromising 150,000 records. They include:
- Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District (TX) says it refused to pay a ransom after a three-day school closure caused by a ransomware attack
- Madison Elementary School District 38 (AZ) notified 35,000 people of an April 2025 data breach claimed by ransomware group Interlock
Ransomware gangs have made another 62 unconfirmed attack claims against schools this year that haven’t been publicly acknowledged by the targets.
Ransomware attacks on schools and other education facilities can both steal data and lock down computer systems. Schools must pay a ransom to secure their data and restore systems, or else they face extended downtime, permanent data loss, and putting students and faculty at increased risk of fraud.
About the Fort Wayne Medical Education Program
The Fort Wayne Medical Education Program is a medical residency program in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It consists of 500 patient beds at a clinic where faculty train and practice medicine, according to FWMEP’s website.
