Russian hackers stole 300 million records of patient interaction with the British health service

Russian hackers stole 300 million records of patient interactions with the UKʼs National Health Service. Records include blood tests for HIV and cancer.

The Guardian writes about it.

Hacking group Qilin attacked two NHS trusts and targeted Synnovis, a private-NHS joint venture that provides services such as blood tests and transfusions.

The hackers demanded a $50 million ransom, and after Synnovis refused, threatened to release the stolen NHS data.

It is currently unknown what data the Russian hackers published. The stolen records include blood test results from patients who have undergone multiple surgeries, including organ transplants, or are suspected of having a sexually transmitted infection.

There is information that hackers distributed 104 files on the Internet. The BBC reported that the files contained patientsʼ names, dates of birth, NHS numbers and test descriptions. However, The Guardian was unable to verify the contents of the published files.

Both NHS trusts had to cancel 1 134 elective surgeries, including oncology and transplants, and postpone 2 194 outpatient appointments in the two weeks following the data breach, due to the hacking attack.

Now the health service is trying to set up a helpline to reassure patients.