Cybernews reports that the Brazilian Military Police allegedly had more than 2 TB of data exfiltrated by threat actors following an attack against Brazilian health IT firm Maida.health, which offers billing, insurance claims management, and teleconsultation software.
While hackers' assertions of having stolen health records and identification cards belonging to the country's police officers and their families have not yet been verified, such a breach, if legitimate, poses a significant privacy threat, according to Cybernews researchers.
"When this kind of data is leaked, it could often lead to identity theft or medical fraud. For example, criminals may try to impersonate the victim to receive medical care or try to get prescription drugs in the victim's name," said researchers.
Such claims follow a spate of healthcare data breaches involving third-party service providers and vulnerable medical devices. U.S. dental marketing firm Gargle had nearly 2.7 million U.S. patient profiles and 8.8 million appointment records inadvertently exposed by an unsecured server.
While hackers' assertions of having stolen health records and identification cards belonging to the country's police officers and their families have not yet been verified, such a breach, if legitimate, poses a significant privacy threat, according to Cybernews researchers.
"When this kind of data is leaked, it could often lead to identity theft or medical fraud. For example, criminals may try to impersonate the victim to receive medical care or try to get prescription drugs in the victim's name," said researchers.
Such claims follow a spate of healthcare data breaches involving third-party service providers and vulnerable medical devices. U.S. dental marketing firm Gargle had nearly 2.7 million U.S. patient profiles and 8.8 million appointment records inadvertently exposed by an unsecured server.
