JERUSALEM (VINnews) — The Iranian-based Black Shadow hacking group published what it claimed to be a full database of person information from Israel’s Machon Mor diagnostic medical institute, including medical records of some 290,000 patients.
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The directory reportedly includes information on patients’ blood tests, treatments, appointments for gynecologists, CT scans, ultrasounds, colonoscopies, vaccinations for flights abroad, and more.
The documents reportedly include correspondence from patients with requests including medical appointments, the need for procedures and test results.
The group has been targeting Israeli companies and organizations and demanding ransom money from them if they wish to prevent the publishing of information hacked by the group. In December 2020 the group targeted Israeli insurance company Shirbit and demandeda a $1 million ransom. When the firm refused to pay, the hackers started leaking information.
Recently, the group has stepped up its activities against Israeli internet sites, claiming on Friday to have hacked the Cyberserve internet server used by many Israeli companies including the Dan bus company and the Kann national television channel. Cyberserve denied that its server had been hacked but the hackers released information relating to the Kavim transport company’s users as well as data from the Dan bus company’s customers. Additionally, it released personal information belonging to an Israeli travel agency, including the names and details of half a million Israelis who ordered air flight tickets.
Earlier on Tuesday, the hackers released what they claimed was a full database of personal user information from the Atraf website, an LGBTQ dating service which also contains medical information about the users. The group uploaded the file to Telegram after a ransom demand of $1 million in digital currency was apparently not paid. Cyber experts warned people not to download the file the group had released.s.
Yoram Hacohen, head of the Israel Internet Association, said, “This is one of the most serious attacks on privacy that Israel has ever seen. Israeli citizens are experiencing cyber terrorism.”
“This is terrorism in every sense and the focus now must be on minimizing the damage and suppressing the distribution of the information as much as possible,” Hacohen told the Ynet news site.
Hacohen blamed Telegram for aiding the hackers by keeping the items on its site and called for cooperation from tech companies to limit the leaking of private information on their platforms.
The new attack comes after an unprecedented, unclaimed cyberattack seriously affected Iran’s gas distribution system this week. Tehran officials blamed the attack on Israel and the United States.
Iran and Israel have been engaged in a so-called “shadow war,” including several reported attacks on Israeli and Iranian ships that the two have blamed on each other, as well as cyberattacks.
In 2010, the Stuxnet virus — believed to have been engineered by Israel and its ally the US — infected Iran’s nuclear program, causing a series of breakdowns in centrifuges used to enrich uranium.