Attackers have attacked the internal network of a well-known medical company, Shields Health Care Group. As a result of the attack, hackers were able to gain access to the personal information of two million patients. Apparently, now the criminals will try to use this data for phishing attacks. At least, this is what the expert who founded information security courses online Armenia Online.
What Happened at Shields Health Care Group, Information Security Courses Online Armenia
It is worth starting with the fact that Shields Health Care Group is a large American company. It has several dozen branches where it provides various diagnostic services. In particular, patients can undergo MRI and CT examinations. Moreover, a radiological research center has been opened on the basis of Shields Health Care Group. In addition, medical center specialists provide outpatient and surgical services. In addition, the company cooperates with 56 different medical institutions. That is, it accepts patients from other medical institutions for diagnostics. Thus, Shields Health Care Group has accumulated a huge patient base from all over the country. But, apparently, the security in the company was not at a high level. This was reported by an expert who conducts course information technology security Armenia.
According to representatives of Shields Health Care Group, they learned about the attack itself at the end of March 2022. However, at first they were in no hurry to make such unpleasant information public. Firstly, because they were trying to actively investigate the crime hackers. Secondly, because of the unpleasant consequences of publishing such information for the company's reputation. The fact is that hackers penetrated the company's internal network back in early March. Thus, the intruders did not reveal their presence for three weeks. During this time, they were able to successfully steal all the information they needed. Of course, this indicates an extremely low level cybersecurity companies. After all, any specialist would be able to detect hackers if regular checks were carried out.
What's at stake for Shields Health Care Group patients?
It is important to understand that any hacker attack has many unpleasant consequences for a large company. However, the most dangerous thing is that the attackers stole a huge amount of confidential data. Therefore, the company's clients are in great danger. For example, personal information can be used for phishing attacks. And it is also used for social engineering. Of course, if the company's experts had passed course information security online Armenia, nothing like this would have happened.
Whereas now experts have already established that the attackers were able to steal the following information:
- names and surnames;
- social security number;
- home address and telephone number;
- date of birth;
- medical card number;
- information about the examination results.
The company's representatives claim that they notify all their clients of the results of the investigation without fail. They also report that for several months the attackers have never used the information from the database. At least, they have not done so openly. But information security specialist courses Armenia I am still sure that patients are in danger. This means that you should be more careful about calls, messages and letters from unknown senders.
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