Hackers have stolen the personal data of potentially millions of people from the Philippines's national health insurer, which has urged members to change their passwords after the 'staggering' cyberattack.
MANILA, Philippines — Hackers have stolen the personal data of potentially millions of people from the Philippines's national health insurer, which has urged members to change their passwords after the "staggering" cyberattack.
As of June 30, according to its website, PhilHealth had more than 59 million direct and indirect contributors -- more than half the population of the Philippines. MedusaLocker, first detected in late 2019, has been used to mainly target healthcare organisations and its creators took particular advantage of the emergency situation during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a US government report.
The insurer shut down the affected systems to try and stop the attack from spreading, slowing or entirely shutting down some online services for days.But in interviews with local media last week, senior PhilHealth official Israel Pargas said the insurer did not have an antivirus software at the time of the attack.With a blunt 'No'. The Philippines does not pay ransom in any criminal cases, including cyberattacks, officials have said.
The NPC said its analysis of 734 GB of stolen data revealed "sensitive personal data", and warned the public that anyone who downloads this information could face criminal charges.
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