Hackers claim millions of patient records stolen during data breach at healthcare giant McKesson
The hacking group ShinyHunters has claimed responsibility for a major data breach at pharmaceutical giant McKesson. The stolen data includes sensitive patient health information and employee records obtained through phishing attacks.
Why it matters
This breach underscores the critical vulnerability of healthcare infrastructure to cyberattacks and the risks posed to millions of patients' private medical data.
A prolific hacking group has taken credit for last week’s cyberattack against U.S. pharmaceutical distribution giant McKesson, leading to the latest spill of highly sensitive health data by an American healthcare company in recent months.
McKesson confirmed Friday in a statement on its website that hackers broke into several of its cloud-hosted accounts earlier in the week and exfiltrated data, and that the company expected “intermittent service degradation” related to the incident. In a separate notice to customers, the company’s chief technology officer, Francisco Fraga, said the stolen data relates to its oncology & multispecialty and medical-surgical units.
The Texas-based company is one of the largest American distributors of pharmaceuticals, medicines, medical supplies, and technology to hospitals and healthcare providers across the United States, and as such handles a large amount of patient data.
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