The hackers had set an ultimatum for the hospital to pay the ransom on September 23. The deadline expired, they released a series of data, added one of the sources close to the file confirming information from the specialized site Zataz. The nature of the data was not specified.
According to Zataz, Lockbit 3.0 hackers released more than 11 GB of sensitive content.
«This is a double extortion, consisting in exfiltrating part of the stolen data to put pressure on the victims. It’s a classic,» a cyberspace specialist told AFP.
The hospital located south of Paris, which provides health coverage for nearly 700,000 inhabitants of the outer suburbs, was the victim of a cyberattack on August 21 with a ransom demand of 10 million dollars.
The ransom was then reduced to one million dollars, according to several concordant sources.
According to Zataz, the hackers would now claim from the hospital “2 million dollars (1 million to destroy the stolen data and one million to restore access to information via their dedicated software)”.
The cyberattack launched in August affected the business software, storage systems and even the information system relating to the admissions of the establishment’s patients, making them inaccessible.
The hospital then lodged a complaint and seized the National Commission for Computing and Liberties (CNIL).
The investigation, opened by the Paris prosecutor’s office and entrusted to the gendarmes of the Center for the Fight against Digital Crime (C3N), is underway.
The National Authority for Security and Defense of Information Systems (Anssi) is also seized.
But «despite these measures and this reactivity, the hackers nevertheless managed to exfiltrate data from
personal character, including health data», lamented the hospital in mid-September in a press release.
After the attack, the hospital, whose emergency room usually receives 230 people a day, launched an emergency plan called a «white plan» to ensure continuity of care.
A wave of cyberattacks has been targeting the French and European hospital sector for about two years. In 2021, Anssi recorded an average of one incident per week in a health establishment in France.