The hackers are demanding nearly $20 million in ransom.
Irish patients’ medical and personal information stolen in a cyber attack against the HSE last week is now being shared online, The Financial Times reports.
According to the publication, 27 files have been offered online by hackers, calling themselves the ‘ContiLocker Team’, as “samples” in order to prove they have confidential information and to further their demands for nearly $20m in ransom.
Some of this data is also internal health service files, including the minutes of meetings, equipment purchase details and correspondence with patients.
Conti is the type of cyber attack perpetrated on the HSE and is associated with Russian hackers known as Wizard Spider.
The Financial Times says the data was offered in a chat between the ContiLocker Team and an unnamed user, which can be viewed on the internet and dark web.
The chat includes a link to the record samples, along with a password to access them. While the files were emptied when the Financial Times examined the link, the names of the empty files corresponded with files shared with the publication by a person who accessed the link earlier in the week.
This person revealed the data had been available for several days, with the files including the personal records of 12 people.
The cyber attack has been described as possibly the most significant cybercrime attack on the Irish state by Minister of State for eGovernment Ossian Smyth.
Both Taoiseach Micheál Martin and HSE CEO Paul Reid have said a ransom will not be paid to the perpetrators of the attack.
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