September 5, 2024 at 01:36PM
Planned Parenthood of Montana reported a cybersecurity incident, with hackers affiliated with RansomHub stealing 93GB of data and giving a ransom ultimatum. It’s unclear if patient files were affected. The incident will likely become politicized due to the organization’s association with abortion care. The group is working to restore its systems but no timeline is provided.
From the meeting notes, it is clear that Planned Parenthood of Montana experienced a cybersecurity incident, with hackers affiliated with RansomHub stealing approximately 93 gigabytes of data. The hackers have demanded payment by September 11 in exchange for not leaking the data online. The organization’s CEO, Martha Fuller, has confirmed that incident response protocols have been implemented, including taking parts of the network offline. The specific type of data stolen and whether patient files have been impacted is currently unknown.
The hacking group RansomHub is known to work under a “ransomware-as-a-service” model and has targeted at least 210 known victims, including sensitive areas of national infrastructure, according to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).
Planned Parenthood has reported the incident to federal law enforcement and is supporting their investigation. The organization is also working to restore its systems, with no specific timeline provided for when this may be completed.
The incident comes at a time when abortion rights are a highly politicized issue, especially following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the federal right to abortion recognized in Roe v. Wade. Many political pundits believe abortion will be a key factor in the upcoming election, with former president Donald Trump’s role and Democratic opponent Kamala Harris’s stance on abortion rights being notable factors. Planned Parenthood of Montana has not immediately responded to questions from Gizmodo.
It is important to note that the organization is taking the matter very seriously and is working diligently to restore impacted systems while supporting the ongoing investigation.