{"id":21466,"date":"2023-03-13T16:10:37","date_gmt":"2023-03-14T00:10:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/2023\/03\/13\/news-15197\/"},"modified":"2023-03-13T16:10:37","modified_gmt":"2023-03-14T00:10:37","slug":"news-15197","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/2023\/03\/13\/news-15197\/","title":{"rendered":"Breast cancer photos published by ransomware gang"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Russia-linked ALPHV ransomware group, also known as BlackCat<\/a>, has posted sensitive clinical photos of breast cancer patients—calling them “nude photos”—to extort money from the Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN).<\/p>\n

This has triggered a chorus of accusations from the cybersecurity community, with some labeling the group as “barbarians<\/a>” and others saying the group is “exploiting and sexualizing breast cancer<\/a>“.<\/p>\n

\"\"The leak page for data stolen from the Lehigh Valley Health Network. Apart from the clinical photos, ALPHV also leaked sensitive, personally identifiable information on passports and questionnaires.<\/p>\n

“This unconscionable criminal act takes advantage of patients receiving cancer treatment, and LVHN condemns this despicable behavior,” LVHN spokesman Brian Downs said, Lehigh Valley News<\/em> reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

LVHN had previously said<\/a> it fell victim to a BlackCat ransomware attack on February 20. The Network initially detected an intrusion within its IT systems on February 6 and said that initial analysis showed the attack was on a network supporting one physician practice located in Lackawanna County.<\/p>\n

The ransom amount has never<\/a> been made public, but we know that the Network decided not to pay ALPHV anyway. Lehigh’s website has remained offline since the attack.<\/p>\n

How to avoid ransomware<\/h2>\n