Hacker Gains Access to VA Medical Database
May 8th, 2009 by Rick
A hacker may have had access to 8 million patient records and 35 million prescription records, all obtained from a highly sensitive database. The Prescription Monitoring Program, a state run program, was breached last Thursday. Essentially, it allows medical professionals and pharmacies to track powerful narcotics and painkillers, to help reduce abuse, theft or their sale on the black market.
The hacked computer network has been shut down since then and all data has been backed up and secured. The hacker even demanded a hefty ransom of $10M but the VA state government refused to negotiate with the computer intrusion specialist’s demands.
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