Hackers attacked patients’ PESEL numbers. Clinics have an increasing problem

Medical facilities are treasure troves of sensitive data – and these are particularly tempting for hackers, especially since stealing them is not a very big challenge. Perhaps this is why the number of hacker attacks on health care centers that collect such data is increasing.

Medical facilities struggle with hacker attacks. The target is our data

According to information from the Ministry of Digitization quoted by the website, the number of cyberattacks on health care facilities in Poland has tripled during the year. In 2021, there were 13 reported incidents, and a year later – as many as 43. What’s worse, this trend is not reversing and the number of cyberattacks on facilities is constantly increasing. And this is not a phenomenon specific only to Poland, because all over the world – according to an analysis by Check Point Research – health care is struggling with nearly 1.8 thousand. attacks per week. In 2022 alone, their number increased by as much as 74%.

The goal of hackers is, of course, not the medical history of patients, but sensitive personal data, primarily name and surname, address and – at least in Poland – PESEL number. With them, cybercriminals try to take out loans and credits for the stolen data. What’s worse, we don’t know about many of these attacks and – if hackers managed to steal data “quietly” – we only find out about them when we receive a payment request or a bailiff knocks on the door.

There are different types of hacker attacks. The ones we hear about and appear in official statistics are most often ransomware or DDos attacks. The first involves infecting the IT system with malware that encrypts user data, making it impossible to use them. The second is that infected computers send many queries, which overload the server of the attacked facility, paralyzing its computer system. And their goal is to extort ransom. Such attacks are visible, that’s why we hear about them and see them in statistics. But if hackers steal patient data, we often find out about it only when a bailiff starts reporting to them for not repaying loans that someone took out on their account.

– explains Bartłomiej Drozd, expert of the website ChronPESEL.pl, quoted in the article.

As the portal reminds, the most famous hacker attack on a medical facility in Poland took place a year ago, when cybercriminals broke into the systems of the Polish Mother’s Health Center. Fortunately, a similar attack on the Central Clinical Hospital in Łódź failed thanks to the quick reaction of cybersecurity specialists. Unfortunately, hackers increasingly choose smaller or small medical facilities as victims, because they are often less protected.

It should also be noted that hacker attacks do not focus only on large medical entities – in their cases, an effective attack may sometimes require a lot of work due to the implemented security measures – but also on small entities, often run by natural persons who have not implemented timely appropriate measures to protect its resources

said Adam Sanocki from the Personal Data Protection Office, quoted by ChronPESEL.pl.

You can now block your PESEL number

It is worth remembering that for several days we have been able to reserve our PESEL number. It is worth doing this to protect yourself from the consequences of having your sensitive data stolen and to block the possibility of, for example, a stranger taking out a loan in your name. PESEL can be registered voluntarily by any adult citizen and it can be done both online (in the mObywatel application) and stationary – including: at the municipal office or post office.

The advantages of such a decision are obvious, but the restriction of the PESEL number also has certain disadvantages (e.g. inability to take out a loan by an authorized person). Fortunately, you can also quickly undo blocking your PESEL number, which we wrote more about in the text below: