Fears data leak from HSE hack has begun as reports of fraud calls begin to circulate
Fears were growing on Monday night that the data dump threatened by the cybercriminals who hacked the HSE IT system had begun.
It was reported some people were receiving calls from a
Dublin number claiming to be a hospital which knew all their medical history as
well as their PPS number and details of their stays at the facility.
As the deadline for ransom passed yesterday the public were
being urged not to engage with those sending texts or emails but instead to
contact gardai.
Top doctors’ publication the Irish Medical Times yesterday
received several reports from members of the public who had been called on what
looked like a Dublin number by someone claiming to be from a hospital.
They also asked for the patient’s bank details supposedly to
forward them a “refund” for overcharging.
The Garda National Cyber Crime Bureau along with the
National Cyber Security Centre and other IT specialists were last night
monitoring the “dark net” and other underground online networks used by
cybercriminals to check if the data was being dumped.
The Taoiseach urged people to be cautious of criminals
taking advantage of fears around the HSE attack by contacting them to attempt
to obtain information or payments.
He said: “If anybody has any suspicions, if anybody comes
across any data and you see it, don’t share it, report it.
“There’s two strands to this – fundamentally we want to get
services back as quick as we possibly can. Progress has been made on that, the
[decryption] key that was given back is helping.”
Mr Martin said services are returning to some hospitals on a
gradual basis including the Mater, Tallaght, St James’s and Beaumont.
The Fianna Fail leader said the Government will not be
paying the gang the ransom to stop the publication of the data.
He added: “It’s a despicable act to steal someone’s data.
“They may not have realised that they had taken on an entire
state or government or health service, but the data is perhaps where they see
some value.
“So far we haven’t seen any significant dumping of data.
“This attack is criminal, these are criminals and will seek
to exploit this data, but again, we’ve had very good co-operation with social
media companies who have been very proactive with the Government and have
agreed to shut down anything and take it down as quickly as they see anything.
“We have a High Court injunction as well, which makes it
fundamentally illegal to engage in this type of activity and behaviour.”
He admitted that the health service has always been
vulnerable to a cyber attack, adding that he queried Ireland’s cyber protection
with various people at senior levels when he became Taoiseach.
Anyone who suspects they have been victims of this cyber
attack is urged to make a report at their local Garda station or through the
Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111.
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