One of the largest group of fertility clinics in the United States, U.S. Fertility, has recently been hit by a ransomware attack, with patient and company data stolen.
U.S. Fertility said that hackers “acquired a limited number of files” while they were in the system. The hackers remained in the system for a month, until ransomware was triggered on September 14. This is a common technique of data-stealing ransomware used by hackers. With this method, data is stolen before encrypting the victim’s network for ransom. Some groups even publish stolen files on their websites if the ransom is not paid.
U.S. Fertility has revealed that some personal information, like clients names and addresses, were stolen in the attack. Some patients even had their Social Security numbers stolen as well. Unfortunately, other patients could have possibly had their protected health information accessed too. This information can include data such as patient’s health or medical conditions, like medical records and test results.
