Major hospital ransomware compromises the data of 300,000 patients
- The Anna Jaques Hospital was hit by ransomware at the end of 2023
- Negotiations with hackers broke down and the data was leaked
- A year-long investigation found that more than 300,000 customers had posted their sensitive data online
Nearly a year after a ransomware attack, the Anna Jaques Hospital has concluded its investigation with news that sensitive data of more than 300,000 people has been exposed on the dark web.
The Massachusetts-based nonprofit community hospital was hit by a ransomware threat actor known as Money Message on Christmas 2023. The group forced the hospital to shut down parts of its infrastructure, but still managed to get away with some data from its systems. .
In late January 2024, Money Message attempted to extort the hospital for money, but negotiations were unsuccessful and the group stopped posting the stolen data on the dark web.
No evidence of abuse
The hospital then began its investigation to see exactly what was leaked and how many people were affected, and has now filed a new report with the Maine Attorney General’s office.
That report says data was taken from exactly 316,342 patients, including demographic information, medical information, health insurance information, Social Security number, driver’s license number, financial information and other personal or health information provided to Anna Jacques.
While this is more than enough information to carry out phishing, identity theft or other scams, the hospital says that so far there has been no evidence to support such claims: “To date, we have no evidence that your information has been misused. for identity theft or financial fraud as a direct result of this incident,” the company said.
Anna Jaques Hospital is a not-for-profit community hospital in Newburyport, Massachusetts. It has 83 beds and 200 physicians and serves the Merrimack Valley, North Shore and southern New Hampshire. It is part of Beth Israel Lahey Health and offers a wide range of medical services.
Via BleepingComputer