Hackers Seek Ksh.7.7 Million Ransom After Breaching New Zealand Health Records System
The hackers extended the ransom deadline past Tuesday, with The Post adding that the deadline was to Friday 5:00 am for the affected firm to respond.
Any extra time would only result in the release or selling of the stolen information. Photo/Courtesy
By Ruth Sang
Hackers are reportedly seeking a ransom of about 7.7 million Ksh after taking unwarranted access to sensitive health records of over thousands of individuals in New Zealand. The news raises fresh concerns about data security in the country’s healthcare sector.
The cybercriminals claim to have accessed the private health information of more than 100,000 people via the Manage My Health digital platform and have extended the deadline for the ransom beyond the original Friday-based deadline, so that they can maintain a so-called good reputation.
This platform states that between 6% and 7% of its entire user base could have been affected, with hackers gaining access to this information from Manage My Health, a privately operated website offering an online health records service. It is among the widely used patient portals in the country, with an estimated 1.8 million registered users in New Zealand.
The company says the breach came to light on the 30th of December, after one of its partners raised the alarm. The identities of the parties behind the attack remain publicly unacknowledged by the New Zealand authorities, who are yet to conclude their investigation.
However, an individual claiming the Telegram username “Kazu” has openly claimed responsibility for the breach. Kazu alleged that they broke into over 428,000 files from the Manage My Health and even online shared sample files to prove the claim.
Kazu stated that the group was demanding $60,000 as ransom or approximately KSh 7,737,000 and that payment was to be made by Tuesday morning. Any extra time would only result in the release or selling of the stolen information.
It confirmed on Tuesday that the hackers extended the ransom deadline past Tuesday, with The Post adding that the deadline was to Friday 5:00 am for the affected firm to respond.
Previous messages on Telegram denied being hacktivists – motivated by political intent – but asserted that their motivation was purely financial.
“We understand how valuable and sensitive health data is,” the group posted on Sunday. “This is a business for us. Our main objective is money and building a good reputation within the community.”
The same Telegram account recently sent an unrelated message, purportedly linking the capture of Venezuela’s president by the USA to a post stating: “Free Nicolas Maduro.” However, it is not clear how this statement ties to the data breach.
Manage My Health’s online portal houses various patient-related information, encompassing medical histories and private details, such as phone numbers and physical addresses. The company emphasized that other services were not affected and that appointment booking and prescription data remained secure.
In the statement issued Tuesday, the company also said that all people whose documents may have been accessible during the breach have been identified and that the firm started notifying affected users from the first group of patients. The company made no mention of the ransom request or the possibility of negotiations regarding it.
Matters of state have since converged on the issue. Health Minister Simeon Brown announced on Monday that a review had been launched into the actions of Manage My Health in terms of handling the breaches.
“This breach will understandably cause significant concern among New Zealanders who rely on Manage My Health,” Brown said. “We need strong assurances that people’s health data is being properly protected and secured.”
He also stressed the need to extract and learn lessons from such a situation to ensure that similar breaches do not arise in the future, as this is gaining importance in the evolving world of cybersecurity in protecting sensitive health information.
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