INTRODUCTION
The Swedish Public Health Agency reported that its infectious and communicable diseases database called SmiNet had to be shut down, courtesy of falling victim to multiple hacking attempts.
In the wake of the pandemic, SmiNet database is used to hold––along with information on other infectious diseases statistical reports on Covid-19. The agency notified that they were flatlining the database temporarily, starting on Thursday, 27th of May to investigate suspected intrusion attempts by malicious actors.
“The Public Health Agency of Sweden has discovered that there have been several intrusions attempts in the SmiNet database. The database has therefore been temporarily shut down,” said the agency in
their statement.
DETAILS
SmiNet, albeit, was up and running by Friday, the Swedish Public Health Agency had to compromise on the details generated with respect to Covid-19 statistics.
“The Public Health Agency of Sweden is therefore unable to report complete data as of Wednesday at 4 pm, until the work to investigate the intrusion attempts is completed.”
It is still an ongoing investigation to see how much personal data, if at all, was stolen and then to mitigate the potential impact of the breach, as per an update issued by the agency on May 31st. The agency has also brought the incident to the knowledge of relevant authorities, including the Privacy Protection Authority.
“The Public Health Agency of Sweden takes the incident very seriously. There is no indication yet that any information has been found to have been in the wrong hands, but the investigation is still ongoing.
It is important to make the reporting work as soon
as possible.”
The recent surge in attackers targeting healthcare organizations and institutions worldwide first saw Ireland’s health service operator fall victim to a Conti ransomware attack with the gang having previously hit more than a dozen US medical networks. The incident was soon followed by hackers releasing information on patients in New Zealand’s Waikato District hospitals.
