Hackers Expose Narcotics Dealers, Dump Canadian Officials’ Credentials and Sell Patient Records for $3

In case you missed our coverage this week in ThreatWatch, Nextgov’s regularly updated index of cyber breaches:

WikiLeaks Saudi Cable Release Resembles Work of Iranian Hackers

It seems Iranian hackers were responsible for stealing the 70,000 Saudi Arabia Foreign Ministry documents that recently popped up on the extreme-transparency website. The cables depict Saudi diplomacy as reliant on oil-wealth patronage and obsessed with Iran, the kingdom’s chief rival.

Hackers Leak Canadian Officials’ Creds to Protest Surveillance Legislation

A group acting in the name of Anonymous claims to have published personal details maintained in an insecure Intelligent Transportation Systems Society of Canada website. In the hackers’ chatroom, a user named ro0ted purported to still have access to the site, about three hours after the database was posted to a document-sharing website.  

Hacker Extracts Data on Purveyors of Controlled Substances

Akorn Inc., a niche pharmaceutical company, had a customer database compromised by an attacker who now is offering to sell the records to the highest bidder. The auction is being hosted by a hacker self-dubbed Mufasa, who is known for exploiting software bugs, or SQL injection flaws, to target vulnerable companies.

Former NY Hospital Employee Charged with Exposing Data on 12,500 Patients

The Montefiore Health System was unaware of the breach until law enforcement authorities informed the hospital about a potential theft. A forensics analysis revealed an assistant clerk at Montefiore had allegedly accessed information without authorization and sold it for as little as $3 per record. She has now been fired. 

Montefiore has a reputation for its significant investment in technology and analytics. Asked if this breach could damage that reputation, hospital officials emphasized this incident was the work of a criminal.

(Image via Hannamariah/ Shutterstock.com)