Hackers post photos of cancer patients online because the clinic refused to pay the ransom

LVHN (Lehigh Valley Health Network), a network of American healthcare facilities in Pennsylvania, refused to pay the hackers' ransom, so the attackers released photos from the medical records of patients with breast cancer.

The ALPHV/BlackCat ransomware group attacked the hospitals back in February. Representatives of the network of medical institutions said: «Hackers have hacked into a computer system containing clinical images of cancer patients and other confidential information.» The hospital’s website is also down. However, the Institute of Cancer Research and the children’s hospital were not affected. The police and cybersecurity experts are working with the doctors.

The community was outraged by blackmail with confidential photos for money. In response to the criticism, the ALPHV/BlackCat group published a message on its website: «Our blog is being followed by many global media outlets, the case will be widely publicized and will cause significant damage to your business. Your time is running out. We are ready to unleash our full power on you!»

Since cyberattacks on hospitals are not uncommon, the World Health Organization and the Red Cross are looking for solutions to provide additional cyber protection for healthcare facilities around the world. This is how the concept of a digital emblem was proposed last November. «The digital emblem would not only provide technical cybersecurity protection for hospitals, Red Cross infrastructure or other medical facilities, but would also signal to hackers that they would be violating international humanitarian law,» said Tilman Rodenhauser, legal advisor to the ICRC, at the time.