French healthcare subjected to cyber intrusions

Infosecurity Magazine reports that multiple cyberattacks have been launched to invade the servers of French regional healthcare agencies, or ARS, in Hauts-de-France, Normandy, and Pays de la Loire, which contain public hospitals' patient data.

Malicious actors posed as healthcare professionals to infiltrate systems managed by GRADeS, or regional e-health development support groups, enabling the compromise of individuals' full names, ages, contact details, and other personally identifiable information. However, there has been no evidence indicating exposure of such information, according to the agencies.

"The compromised accounts have been disabled and additional security measures were immediately implemented to prevent any further unauthorized access of this kind," said ARS Normandy. Meanwhile, ARS Hauts-de-France noted the continued operations of healthcare providers across the region while warning of potential phishing attacks that could stem from the data breach.

"As a reminder, healthcare professionals or medical/social institutions will never request the transmission of personal information (bank details, social security numbers, passwords, etc.) via email, phone, or SMS," said the agency.