Threat actors leak patient data from Morrison Community Hospital
Right, let’s have a bit of a chinwag about a spot of bother that happened a while ago over in the US of A, more specifically in a place called Illinois. You’ll have to bear with me – things got a bit muddled and dramatic, if I’m being honest.
So, picture the scene. It’s October 13th and Morrison Community Hospital (I’ve heard it’s a charming little place) suddenly gets a fright. They’re threatened by these nebulous wrong’uns known on the murky depths of the internet as BlackCat. And their threat wasn’t your garden variety Deadline Day ultimatum, no. They gave a chilling warning to the Roosevelt hospital, threatening that they’d do a bit of a data release. Bit low if you ask me, but there you go.
Anyway, these BlackCat blighters then go and take down the threat right sharpish, leaving everyone utterly confused. It was back up by October 19th, with BlackCat claiming that, because they weren’t given a clear thumbs up or thumbs down by the hospital, they’d release a dribble of data and start ringing up patients. Whether they did or didn’t is still up for debate, but we know that on the very same day, the hospital put out a clutching statement on their website. It confirmed that they’d had a bit of a network security hiccup back on September 24th and that some unfortunate souls—current and former patients—might be contacted ‘cos their personal info could have been laid bare.
Fast forward to the following day, at precisely 11:25:09 AM, and it turns out BlackCat weren’t kidding. They bunged all the data they had online – the whole caboodle. They declared it was a ‘FULL HUGE LEAK + BONUS’, describing the release as a consequence of MCH supposedly messing about (poor form MCH, if true). Three bits of info were leaked: original VMWare VM images (~8.6 Terabytes worth!), files extracted from drives for the presumably lethargic, and passwords from employee browsers at MCH.
MCH, bless ’em, have yet to follow up on their initial message. Although they did previously mention that they’d seen no misuse of the data. Whether that’s still the case now the cat’s out of the bag, well, we’ll have to wait and see. Not even the HHS’s public breach tool has the information tucked away, so we don’t even know how many people have been affected.
So there you have it, folks. One turbulent and unseemly drama in the world of cybersecurity that left more questions than answers. Can only hope things have been sorted out by now, but it just goes to show – never underestimate the threat of a cyber breach. If the likes of MCH can fall victim, we should all be keeping our guard up.
by Parker Bytes