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Virginia health website shut down after hacking | | 2009/05/13 | |
The website of the Virginia Department of Health had to be shut down after hackers claimed to have stolen the details of 8.3 million residents, it has been reported.
Thieves allegedly held the details to a $10 million (£6.6 million) ransom, demanding the cash in exchange for the return of the records, reports the Washington Post.
A hacker reportedly shut down the site and posted a ransom note on the page that read: "Attention Virginia. In my possession right now are 8,257,378 patient records and a total of 35,548,087 prescriptions."
The note continued to state that an encrypted backup of the data has been created and the original deleted.
It is not known whether or not the department was using website monitoring services when the hack occurred.
Sandra Whitley Ryals, director of Virginia's Department of Health, said: "There is a criminal investigation under way by federal and state authorities, and we take the information security very serious."
The University of California also had its website hacked recently, which the personal details of 160,000 students, alumni and staff being compromised.
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