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How a Data Breach of 1M Cancer Center Patients Led to Extorting Emails


The Seattle Times reports: Concerns have grown in recent weeks about data privacy and the ongoing impacts of a recent Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center cyberattack that leaked personal information of about 1 million patients last November. Since the breach, which hit the South Lake Union cancer resear...

Since the breach, which hit the South Lake Union cancer research center's clinical network and has led to a host of email threats from hackers and lawsuits against Fred Hutch, menacing messages from perpetrators have escalated. Meanwhile, the number of reported ransomware incidents, when a specific malware blocks a victim's personal data until a ransom is paid, has decreased in recent years — from 516 in 2021 to 423 in 2023, according to Bernd of FBI Seattle. Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center believes their breach was perpetrated outside the U.S. by exploiting the "Citrix Bleed" vulnerability(which federal cybersecurity officials warn can allow the bypassing of passwords and mutifactor authentication measures).

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