The IT Nerd

Ransomware group Fog today claimed responsibility for a November 2024 data breach at University Diagnostic Medical Imaging that compromised 138,080 patients’ names, addresses, dates of birth, referring physicians, medical treatments, and diagnoses.

In a blog published today reporting this news, Paul Bischoff, Consumer Privacy Advocate at Comparitech, wrote:

“Fog is a ransomware gang that first started claiming attacks on its website in July 2024. It has a history of targeting US schools but is not limited to them. In addition to encrypting files, Fog also steals data and targets development environments.”

“Fog has claimed 18 confirmed ransomware attacks since it began, plus another 157 unconfirmed claims that haven’t been acknowledged by the targeted organizations. This breach on UDMI’s is Fog’s biggest attack to date by number of records affected, followed by its attack on medical device maker PRC-Saltillo.”

“Comparitech researchers logged 146 confirmed ransomware attacks on US healthcare companies in 2024, compromising more than 24.8 million records. The average ransom was $1.05 million.”

“Ransomware attacks on hospitals, clinics, and other care providers can lock down computer systems and steal data. Targets are forced to either pay a ransom or face extended downtime, data loss, and putting customers at risk of fraud. Ransomware can cripple a wide range of systems including access to medical records, appointment booking, payroll, prescriptions, patient communications, and more.”

You can read the blog post here.

Comparitech researchers have published a ransomware roundup for the month of February. Although it may be the shortest month of the year, February 2025 actually turned into one of the busiest months for ransomware attacks over the last year or so. 

Key findings include: 

• 959 attacks in total — 41 confirmed attacks
• Of the 41 confirmed attacks:
  • 20 were on businesses
  • 8 were on government entities
  • 7 were on healthcare companies
  • 6 were on educational institutions
• Of the 918 unconfirmed attacks:
  • 824 were on businesses
  • 11 were on government entities
  • 40 were on healthcare companies
  • 21 were on educational institutions
• The most prolific ransomware gangs were Clop (323), RansomHub (95), Akira (80), Play (47), and Qilin (43). RansomHub and Qilin had the most confirmed attacks out of these claims with six and four, respectively

For full details, the study can be read here: https://www.comparitech.com/news/ransomware-roundup-february-2025/

I thought you may be interested to know that Comparitech has today published a study on Netflix pricing trends. The study looks at which countries are the most expensive and cheapest for Netflix subscriptions, worldwide. 

Recently, a number of countries saw Netflix price hikes, including the UK, US, France, and some of the most cost-effective countries in previous years – Egypt, Colombia, and Nigeria. In the US, for example, the cost of a premium HD Ultra subscription with four users is now up to $24.99 per month (from $22.99).

Key research findings include:

1. The United States is one of the top 10 least cost-effective countries for all three Netflix subscription plans. 
2. Pakistan and Egypt are in the top 3 most cost-effective countries for all three plans. 
3. Canada is right up there with the US in terms of being a least cost-effective country.

Here is a link to the research: https://www.comparitech.com/blog/vpn-privacy/countries-netflix-cost/