Ransomware attack on Planned Parenthood steals data of 400,000 patients

Ransomware hackers broke right into a Deliberate Parenthood community and accessed medical information or different delicate knowledge for greater than 400,000 sufferers of the reproductive well being care group.

The disclosure got here in a pattern letter posted to the California legal professional normal’s web site and a launch revealed by the group. Each mentioned that the intrusion and knowledge theft was restricted to sufferers of Deliberate Parenthood’s Los Angeles chapter. Group personnel first seen the hack on October 17 and performed an investigation.

“The investigation decided that an unauthorized individual gained entry to our community between
October 9, 2021 and October 17, 2021, and exfiltrated some information from our methods throughout that point,” the letter acknowledged. It went on to say: “On November 4, 2021, we recognized information that contained your identify and a number of of the next: deal with, insurance coverage data, date of beginning, and scientific data, resembling prognosis, process, and/or prescription data.”

The discharge mentioned that the intruder “put in malware/ransomware and exfiltrated some information from its methods throughout that point.” The group mentioned it has no proof the stolen knowledge has been used for fraudulent functions. Deliberate Parenthood of Los Angeles spokesman John Erickson didn’t reply to a query asking if the group might rule out that chance.

Ransomware has change into a scourge that hits each Fortune 500 companies and small nonprofits alike. The criminals behind the assaults routinely extort cash, with the menace to not solely lock up victims’ laptop networks, but additionally to leak delicate knowledge on-line if the ransom goes unpaid. There aren’t any stories of any of the Deliberate Parenthood knowledge being revealed.

In Might, hackers hit Colonial Pipeline with a ransomware assault that brought on disruptions in gasoline distribution within the southeastern United States. A couple of weeks later, JBS SA, the world’s greatest meat producer, suffered a ransomware assault that shut down operations at 5 of the most important JBS beef vegetation within the US. A Canadian JBS beef plant that processes virtually a 3rd of the nation’s federally inspected cattle was additionally shut down.

Nonprofit organizations, in the meantime, have additionally been menaced by ransomware, with hospitals, homeless shelters, and group teams all within the crosshairs. Earlier this 12 months, knowledge belonging to a Deliberate Parenthood chapter within the District of Columbia was additionally held for ransom.

Phrase of the newest Deliberate Parenthood assault comes as the provision of abortions in lots of states has come below menace in state legislatures. The US Supreme Courtroom on Wednesday heard oral arguments in a case difficult the constitutionality of a Mississippi legislation that successfully bans the process after 15 weeks of being pregnant.