Hackers known as Medusa have made public the stolen data from the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), potentially exposing members to online scams and criminal activity shortly.
Reports from informants on the dark web indicate that the pilfered PhilHealth documents have surfaced on online platforms like Telegram, beginning yesterday.
The Deep Web Konek group, dedicated to monitoring dark web activities, shared a screenshot displaying extensive files allegedly containing information on PhilHealth members.
This development serves as a cautionary note for PhilHealth members to remain vigilant in the coming days. Data uploaded to the dark web is often exploited by criminal groups, engaging in various forms of digital fraud ranging from messaging scams to identity theft.
According to additional reports, the PhilHealth files in online marketplaces are organized into 160 folders, totaling a substantial 600 gigabytes of data.
Despite attempts to obtain a comment from the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), The STAR received no response.
Earlier, PhilHealth acknowledged that it has yet to determine the exact number of records compromised by Medusa. They do, however, believe that sensitive information was included in the ransomware attack, such as names, addresses, birthdays, genders, mobile numbers, and identification numbers.
PhilHealth has committed to notifying members whose personal information may have been compromised. The state-run insurer has also advised contributors to take immediate precautions, including monitoring their credit reports for any unauthorized activities.
Furthermore, PhilHealth suggests that members place a fraud alert on their credit reports and change passwords across all digital accounts, particularly on financial platforms. It is crucial to remain vigilant against phishing emails and smishing texts.
Source: PhilNews24 | October 6, 2023
