November 1, 2023 at 06:52PM
A cybercriminal group called Alphv, also known as BlackCat, claims to have stolen data from Advarra, a firm that helps run medical trials. The group gained access to an executive’s account by SIM swapping their cellphone number. The attackers have threatened to leak the stolen data if a ransom is not paid. Advarra is investigating the breach. Another US healthcare organization, Morrison Community Hospital, was also recently targeted by the same group. The healthcare sector remains a prime target for cybercriminals.
Meeting Takeaways:
– The notorious Alphv, aka BlackCat, extortion gang hacked into the work account of an executive at Advarra, a firm that helps other organizations run medical trials.
– The hackers used SIM swapping to gain access to the executive’s cellphone number and accounts.
– The gang claimed to have stolen over 120GB of confidential data from Advarra, including customer, patient, and employee information.
– If the ransom demand is not paid, the hackers may leak or sell the stolen data.
– The hackers shared personal information of individuals to prove the intrusion, but there are doubts about the authenticity of their claims.
– Advarra must reach out within 24 hours or the hackers will release the stolen data.
– Advarra confirmed that one of its employees was a victim of a compromise of their phone number, which led to unauthorized access to their accounts.
– Advarra is conducting an ongoing investigation into the incident and will provide updates as appropriate.
– The attack on Advarra follows a similar attack on Morrison Community Hospital in Illinois.
– Healthcare organizations are a prime target for cybercriminals due to the sensitive nature of the data they hold.
– According to Sophos, the number of attacks targeting the healthcare sector has slightly decreased compared to the previous year, but the encryption rate of successful attacks has increased. In a significant number of cases, data was also stolen during encryption.