Hacker hobbles medical database dream
DESPITE the fact that a hacker recently nicked millions of Virginia's most sensitive prescription drug records, US Democratic Senator Mark Warner is continuing his campaign to stick everyone in the US on a huge database.
According to AP, Warner made a killing in the early days of mobile phones and information technology, is convinced that the world will be a happy place if everyone was on a database somewhere.
He said that having such data instantly available to doctors anywhere would eliminate the need for expensive tests patients have already had and allow doctors to make smarter, faster treatment decisions.
However having one central database appears to be an invite for every hacker in the land to knock it over.
Earlier this month, millions of prescription records including details of who was getting mashed on morphine, or vegged on Vicodin and Valium were nicked from the so-called secure database of the Virginia Department of Health Professions.
The deperate hacker demanded a $10 million ransom, claiming that the data was wiped after he nicked a copy. State officials said the data was all backed up and the hacker can go hang. µ
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"State officials said the data was all backed up and the hacker can go hang."
or he can just sell to the next highest bidder?
a win win situation here, everyone is happy.
hackers ftw
Who is this loser going to sell it to? Yes, hacker's are losers cus they think breaching secure networks is time well spent instead of learning to speak in person with the opposite sex and get laid like the rest of us.
Unless there's some famous person on the list, which might drive a story it's useless because it will only contain test results and perscription data. Oh no John Doe broke his leg and now needs Vicadin to cope. What valuable data.
A hacker can steal the information but it may not be easy for the hacker to understand or interpret the information that he/she has acquired.
If the hacker could understand the data, some interesting thoughts come to mind. [This presupposes that the information stolen can link an individual to the medical record]
A hacker could post a list the prescriptions/treatment courses of selected officials. If there were listed medical treatments for STDs or depression it would certainly cause some discomfort (pun intended). I don't think a senator/sports figure/captain of industry/religious figure would like everyone to know they are on antipsychotics or the latest STD anti-viral.
If denied their ransom a hacker can freely release all the data in bulk in order to engender a loss of faith in the institution. This is similar to the stories of the UK officials who leave their thumbdrives somewhere on a train car. The actual information becomes secondary because the act itself illustrates the weakness of the institution.
A continued round of hacking and public revealing may be of most use because governments hate embarrassing events which place government officials on defense with the public.
If this continues, I suspect the officials will eventually be forced to actually do something radical like provide real security to their networks or something. I know, I'm talking crazy now.
Small point - morphine is not prescribable in the US and has not been so since about 1929