Some of Florida’s most sensitive records may be in the hands of cybercriminals.
The group says it will release 100 gigabytes of data from the Florida Department of Health (F-DOH) unless the state pays up.
The City of Jacksonville Beach, Ascension Healthcare System and the Florida Department of Health all have one thing in common: they were hacked by cybercriminals and their stolen data is being held for ransom.
The I-TEAM has learned that F-DOH’s vital statistics were the target of the latest breach.
Cybersecurity expert Scott Shoberg, CEO of Berkeley Varitronics, said medical and health information overall is a common target for hackers.
“They know it’s data rich. What do I mean? All kinds of health records. There’s a ton of personally identifiable information in there. It could be your COVID test, it could be prescription medications that you’re taking. They can use all of these codes and stuff to make false claims to insurance companies or send out bills and collect a lot of money. And it’s hard for insurance companies to keep up with it,” Shoberg said.
The federal Department of Health confirmed only that the attack affected a vital statistics system used to issue birth and death certificates, and that it also affected the state’s tax office and funeral homes that regularly access the system, according to the Miami Herald.
The Florida Department of Health is responsible for overseeing all 67 health departments, licensed physicians, nurses, and other health-related professionals.
“Obviously, a weakness in a vulnerability was exploited. But most government systems — I don’t want to say all of them, but most systems — have some vulnerabilities,” Shoberg said. “In the cybersecurity world, you have to get it right every time. But think like a cybercriminal: they only have to get it right once. This may have started as an innocent phishing attack. Someone at the hospital or a government employee may have clicked on something and thought, ‘What is this?’ They don’t realize it’s a redirect. And then it downloads malware, a specific strand. Usually it’s ransomware.”
News4JAX asked local residents what they thought about the hack and the state government’s responsibility to keep Floridians’ personal information safe.
“Unfortunately, this is a target that is being attacked. The government needs to step in and put a bit more funding into cybersecurity. Cybersecurity is crucial and unfortunately it is underused,” Brie Hansen said.
“I’ve worked in government in other places, where we’re always short on resources, competing with the private sector for talent, and there are a lot of issues at stake,” said David Lara. “A lot of technologies are advancing rapidly, including AI and ransomware.”
“It’s scary that these companies have our information and they could be hacked at any time. It’s not something I want to hear,” said Jordan Ziaroski. She added that she believes everyone’s personal information is on the internet and there’s no way around it.
Shoberg said under no circumstances should you give out your entire Social Security number, even at a doctor’s office.
“But I always tell people to just stop before they fill out their information. A lot of us give it away and then we say, ‘I trust my doctor. Of course I do, but don’t I know about all the other people in line? Or are they selling that information? We don’t know. They say they’re not selling it. But a lot of information is being stolen. So be really careful.”
According to an annual report filed by the Florida Attorney General’s Office, data on more than 10 million Floridians has been exposed in state agency hacks of some kind over the past three years.
And let’s not forget that private companies have also fallen victim to cyber attacks: high-profile names in recent months include Ticketmaster, AT&T, and Truist.
Meanwhile, funeral directors we spoke to said that because the state’s online system is currently down, people will need to visit a medical facility to get a signed copy of the death certificate in order to carry out a burial.
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