Star Health says it received a $68,000 ransom after data breaches
Star Health, India’s largest health insurer, said on Saturday it had received a $68,000 ransom from a cyber hacker in connection with a leak of customer data and medical records.
Star, which has a market capitalization of roughly $4 billion, has been dealing with a reputation and business crisis since Reuters reported on September 20 that a hacker had used Telegram chatbots and a website to leak sensitive customer data, including tax data and medical claim papers.
The company, whose shares have fallen 11%, has launched an internal investigation and taken legal action against Telegram and the hacker, whose website continues to share samples of Star customers’ data.
Star, which has previously said it is a “victim of a targeted malicious cyber attack,” revealed for the first time on Saturday that in August “the threat actor demanded a ransom of $68,000 in an email” addressed to the CEO and chief executive of the company. managerial.
The statement came after Indian stock exchanges on Friday sought clarification from Star following a Reuters report that the company was investigating allegations that its chief security officer was involved in the data breach.
Star reiterated on Saturday that there was no misconduct by the official, Amarjeet Khanuja, although the internal investigation is still ongoing.
Telegram has refused to share the account details or permanently ban accounts linked to the hacker – an individual named xenZen – “despite multiple notices in this regard,” Star said on Saturday.
Star said it has “sought the assistance” of Indian cybersecurity authorities to help us identify the hacker.
Telegram did not respond to a request for comment.
The Dubai-based messenger app previously said it removed the chatbots when Reuters flagged them on the platform.
© Thomson Reuters 2024
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
