Hackers threaten to leak plastic surgery pictures
source link: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-55439190
Go to the source link to view the article. You can view the picture content, updated content and better typesetting reading experience. If the link is broken, please click the button below to view the snapshot at that time.
Hackers threaten to leak plastic surgery pictures
By Joe Tidy
Cyber reporter
Hackers have stolen the data of a large cosmetic surgery chain and are threatening to publish patients' before and after photos, among other details.
The Hospital Group, which has a long list of celebrity endorsements, has confirmed the ransomware attack.
It said it had informed the Information Commissioner of the breach.
On its darknet webpage, the hacker group known as REvil said the "intimate photos of customers" were "not a completely pleasant sight".
It claimed to have obtained more than 900 gigabytes of patient photographs.
The Hospital Group, which is also known as the Transform Hospital Group, claims to be the UK's leading specialist weight loss and cosmetic surgery group.
It has 11 clinics specialising in bariatric weight loss surgery, breast enlargements, nipple corrections and nose adjustments.
The company has previously promoted itself via celebrity endorsements, although it has not done so for several years.
Former Big Brother contestant Aisleyne Horgan-Wallace told Zoo magazine about her breast enhancement surgery with The Hospital Group in 2009.
Atomic Kitten singer Kerry Katona, Shameless actress Tina Malone and reality TV star Joey Essex from The Only Way is Essex are also previous patients who have endorsed the clinic.
'Splattered around'
The Hospital Group said in a statement: "We can confirm that our IT systems have been subject to a data security breach. None of our patients' payment card details have been compromised but at this stage, we understand that some of our patients' personal data may have been accessed."
The company said it had emailed all its customers about the cyber-attack and would contact individuals who might have had more personal details compromised.
It's understood that many before and after pictures will not include the patients' faces.
One customer told the BBC he was worried about his pictures and data being in the hackers' hands.
Simon Hails had chest reduction surgery with The Hospital Group.
He said the company had not told him about the ransom.
"I have had an email from The Hospital Group informing me of a 'data security incident' but no detail as to what has been hacked," he told the BBC.
"I'm obviously concerned as the last thing I want is 'before photos' being splattered around in the public domain. I've tried to keep my surgery private and not even some of my friends and colleagues know about it, so the data breach is concerning for me."
Ransomware is one of the most prolific forms of cyber-attack. It typically involves hackers gaining access to a computer network and either encrypting files or locking users out of their systems until a ransom is paid.
More recently, ransomware gangs have been taking a copy of the data and threatening to release it.
Law-enforcement agencies discourage victims from paying the ransom because doing so fuels the criminal enterprises.
Cyber-security company Emsisoft estimates that the burgeoning form of cyber-crime has earned criminals $25bn (£18bn) in 2020.
REvil, also known as Sodinokibi, is one of the most prolific ransomware groups. Its high-profile victims include currency exchange Travelex and entertainment law firm Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks.
In September, The Hospital Group said surgery requests had increased by 25% since 2019.
Its chief executive Tony Veverka told the ITV News Tonight programme at the time that Covid-19 health concerns had prompted the spike, as people tried to find ways to lose weight.
- Published11 August 2016
Recommend
-
12
Google Blocked Russian Government Phishing Emails Targeting 14,000 UsersThe company said it blocked an unusually high number of phishing emails from the hacking group known as APT28 or Fancy Bear.
-
36
The truth about turbinates March 2, 2021 by Howard Stupak “…rhinological adenoids was a disappearing condition and that th...
-
10
Crypto-crazy hackers threaten to leak Nvidia source code By Steve Huff Published 3 minutes ago Please think of the ga...
-
8
TechVodafone investigating threat from hackers behind Samsung breach to leak source codePublished Thu, Mar 10 20223:05 AM EST
-
11
Hackers leak over 1 million credit cards to the dark web...
-
6
Plastic Surgery Clinic Ran a Vaccine Scam Where They Poured Shots Down the Drain, Injected Kids With Saline, Feds AllegeFalsified vaccine cards were issued in exchange for a donation to an unnamed charitable organiz...
-
9
Hackers threaten Europe in smart new thriller Liaison [Apple TV+ recap]
-
6
Russian hackers threaten to release Stalker 2 content if demands are not met GSC Game World has been dealing with cyberattacks since the war began By
-
5
Hackers Threaten To Leak 80GB of Confidential Data Stolen From Reddit ...
-
8
Hackers Threaten to Release Reddit Data Unless API Changes Are Rolled Back
About Joyk
Aggregate valuable and interesting links.
Joyk means Joy of geeK