Hacker Steals Patients' Sensitive Photos and Records From Top London Plastic Surgery Clinic
The London Bridge Plastic Surgery clinic has recently confirmed a security breach that led to some of its records being stolen.
The incident was claimed by the group The Dark Overlord, who told the Daily Beast: "We have TBs [terabytes] of this s***. Databases, names, everything." It was also implied that the hacking might have compromised some sensitive photos and the information of previous LBPS clients.
The Dark Overlord reportedly added that the list also had the names of "some royal families." The publication then confirmed that the group had previously reached out to them using an official email belonging to the LBPS - something they did to prove that they still had access to the clinic's network.
Added to that, the Daily Beast confirmed that the hackers sent them some of the photos they stole from the LBPS network. According to the report, some of the photos were "highly graphic and close-up, showing surgery on male and female genitalia," while some also featured faces and other parts of the bodies after going under the knife.
The Daily Beast added that they tried searching for similar images through Google but nothing matched, which means the photos that The Dark Overlord gave the publication were definitely from a private entity.
On the other hand, LBPS confirmed they were victimized by a hacking incident but would not specify the scope of the cyber attack.
In a statement, the clinic officials said: "We took measures to block the attack immediately in order to protect patient information and we informed the Metropolitan Police who launched an investigation."
LBPS added: "Regrettably, following investigations by our IT experts and the police, we believe that our security was breached and that data has been stolen. We are still working to establish exactly what data has been compromised."
The hacker group normally demands ransom from their targeted corporations. However, the Daily Beast's report did not specifically indicate whether The Dark Overlord had contacted LBPS about the matter to avoid the release of the photos and the list of the clients.
The Dark Overlord was also known for hacking Netflix earlier this year and subsequently dumped several unreleased episodes of the hit series "Orange is the New Black." In November 2016, the group also stole sensitive data from the Peachtree Orthopaedic Clinic in Atlanta, Georgia, and demanded a ransom of around $60,500 in Bitcoin.