Hackers publish Israeli hospital’s records after Cyberattack

A ransomware hacker group on Wednesday published patient data stolen from Israel’s Mayanei Hayeshua Medical Center.

The “Ragnar Locker” group followed through on a threat to release the sensitive information gathered in the cyberattack on a hospital in Bnei Brak, near Tel Aviv, about a month ago if it did not receive a ransom of tens of millions of shekels.

In a Telegram announcement on Wednesday night, the group said that it had released the first 402 gigabytes of data to the darknet. The criminals threatened to release the rest of the information if the ransom was not paid.

The prime minister, lawmakers and senior rabbis are among those whose medical histories would be made public if the demands are not met. Benjamin Netanyahu underwent prostate-related treatment at the facility in 2015; it is unclear whether his file was among those exposed on Wednesday.

Israel’s Privacy Protection Authority investigated the case and confirmed that there were signs of a leak of information from the hospital’s systems. It was not clarified whether the personal information included medical files, including psychiatric evaluations, as the hackers claimed.

“An initial examination of the incident raised concerns about leaking information, but later it was discovered that this was an actual indication of a leak of sensitive personal information,” the Privacy Protection Authority said.

“In view of this indication, the authority wishes to guide the public to increase awareness, exercise caution and act according to the rules and recommendations of the authority for the protection of privacy.”

The hospital said that the Ragnar Locker group had “attacked dozens of health systems around the world.”

Since 2021, Israeli hospitals have encountered a series of cyberattacks with severe consequences. These incidents have included ransomware attacks, distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, and data breaches, all aimed at crippling the hospitals’ operations and compromising patient information.

State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman reported in May that Israel’s healthcare sector was vulnerable to cyberattacks. To test the preparedness of the hospitals, a team of hackers overseen by his office staged a controlled penetration of one major hospital, revealing deficiencies in the medical centre’s security precautions and responses to the “hack.”

Englman’s report stressed the vulnerability of hospital equipment, such as ultrasound and MRI scanning devices, which are also integrated into hospital information networks.