ALPHV/BlackCat, a Russian-speaking group of criminal hackers, released nude photos of cancer patients to force an attacked hospital to pay the ransom.
All means are good for pirates, even the most abject ones. The ALPHV ransomware group — also known as BlackCat — posted nude photos on the dark web on March 7 showing cancer patients after an attack on a US hospital. The health center had refused to pay the ransom after the group took its data hostage.
” Because your hypocritical leaders have told the media that patient data comes first, but refuse to pay us, we will release more and more confidential data every week. Photos of patients and all their data, medical history, databases, documents, etc. Your entire internal structure corrupted and more. We are ready to start! We will continue to do this until we have released a full 1 TB listing “, Can we read on the darknet site of the group of criminals. In the aftermath, Lehigh Valley Health, the establishment attacked, said that compromising pictures of cancer patients and their health data were posted online.
The total amount of the ransom is not specified, but the American health administration indicates the sums demanded by this group of criminals amount to 1.5 million dollars (1.4 million euros approximately). The criminals launched a ransomware against this complex located in Pennsylvania, in the eastern United States, last February. The negotiations having failed, the attackers decided to increase the level of pressure at the beginning of March.
A gang specializing in attacking hospitals
ALPHV/BlackCat is one of the most prolific ransomware groups. Between October and December 2021, this collective of Russian-speaking hackers attacked 77 organizations, according to a report by TrendMicro, placing them second in the ranking of the most active gangs, behind Lockbit with 147 operations during this period. ALPHV/BlackCat has also adopted the method of ransomware as service to increase its profitability: the malware is rented by the managers of the “product” – much like Adobe or Microsoft would do – and the attacks are carried out by affiliates; associates who pay a commission after the ransom is paid.
This group has also specialized in attacks on hospitals, warned the American health administration. The weak protection of their computer systems, the media panic around the disruptions of hospital establishments and the attractive resale prices of medical data make them attractive targets for criminal hackers.
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