Last Updated on 22/11/2021 by Khushi
To reputed hospitals fell prey to data invading hackers, with each facility putting the personal information of over 40,000 patients at danger.
On Monday, Phetchabun Hospital’s personal data of 46,000 patients was compromised, while Bhumirajanagarindra Kidney Institute Hospital’s data of 40,000 patients was stolen.
The Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau discovered what they believe to be the source of the Petchabun Hospital intrusion, linking the data breach to a group of Indian hackers via a server in Singapore.
The hackers demanded a ransom and published the information on Raidforums.com, a website that allows people to share and trade compromised databases.
The data was acquired, according to the CCIB, through Clickbait, a malicious link that fooled a hospital employee into clicking and authorising access. They also speculated that it could have been a simple case of a bad password.
Meanwhile, around 5 a.m. on Monday, hospital staff at Bhumirajanagarindra Kidney Institute Hospital were unable to access their patient database. They realised that the data, which contained personal information and treatment histories, had been stolen after additional examination.
The hospital’s director said they received an English-language contact later Monday from a man claiming to be the hacker and promising to call back the next day to arrange a ransom payment. However, the director never heard from the man again. Following this he sent a recording of the initial call to Phaya Thai police.
They believe the breach occurred when they provided a reputable software provider remote access to do system upgrades. But they do not have any such suspicion on the company.
Authorities believe these attacks are linked to preceeding high-profile hacks that were executed in the Northeast, including one at a hospital and one at Krungthai Bank.
