India’s biggest health insurer gets ransomware following data breach

Indian health insurer Star Health says it has received an email containing a ransom of $68,000 following a "targeted malicious cyberattack". The attack allegedly resulted in the leak of personal data of up to 31 million Star Health policy holders and over 5.8 million insurance claims.

The health organization confirmed that the cyberattack resulted in "unauthorized and illegal access to certain data" including full names, postal addresses, phone numbers, medical reports, and insurance claims.

Since the attack, the company has suffered serious reputational damage and an 11% drop in shares, and has also launched legal action against Telegram, since Telegram chatbots were used to leak the information.

A mountain of information

The stolen data was reported to total a staggering 7.24 terabytes, although it is not yet confirmed exactly what information was taken. Health Star is said to have sought the assistance of Indian cybersecurity authorities in its investigation.

Although the hacker alleged that Chief Information Security Officer Amarjeet Khanuja was involved in the breach, the organization is yet to identify any wrongdoing - but the internal investigation is ongoing.

“We also want to categorically mention that our CISO has been duly co-operating in the investigation, and we have not arrived at any finding of wrongdoing by him till date. We request that his privacy be respected as we know that the threat actor is trying to create panic” the insurer commented.

Telegram have declined to comment on account details or permanently ban accounts linked to the hacker, an individual dubbed ‘xenZen’, despite "multiple notices issued in this regard", the Star has revealed.

As is always the case with compromised data, this leaves customers exposed to malicious actors, specifically in regards to the risk of identity theft. We've listed the best identity theft protections for anyone concerned about their data.

Via Reuters

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