Children’s Mental Health Records Swiped From An NHS Trust And Published By Cybercriminals

Earlier this week, NHS Dumfries and Galloway, part of the Scottish healthcare system, confirmed some children’s mental health records has been published by criminals following a cyber attack and demand for an extortion payment from the local health board.

It follows NHS Dumfries and Galloway’s March announcement that it had been the target of “a focused and ongoing cyber attack,” and that while patient-facing services were functioning as normal, there was a risk “hackers have been able to acquire a significant quantity of data.” However, Julie White, the health board’s chief executive said it was unlikely that the hackers were able to access entire patient records.

The INC Ransom group claims to hold terabytes of data exfiltrated from the organization, meanwhile White said the number of people affected is still unknown but could be thousands.

   “Work is beginning to take place with partner agencies to assess the data which has been published,” added the statement on the official website.

Dumfries and Galloway is the southernmost region of Scotland and has a population of just under 150,000 people, all of which are likely to be users of the NHS.

Emily Phelps, Director, Cyware:

   “There is a fundamental need to better protect healthcare organizations, and every cybersecurity attack on a healthcare entity underscores the importance of robust cybersecurity measures, including the critical role of bidirectional intelligence sharing. By engaging in proactive intelligence sharing, healthcare organizations can better anticipate, respond to, and mitigate cyber threats. Information Sharing and Analysis Centers (ISACs) are a great resource to help empower healthcare providers with the necessary tools and community support to safeguard sensitive patient data effectively, ultimately fostering a more resilient healthcare infrastructure.”

This is another example of a health care organization being low hanging fruit for cybercriminals. While everyone needs to take measures to protect themselves from scumbags like the ones behind this event, health care needs particular attention.

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