What you choose to do your own body should be your business and your business only. But some hackers, like ransomware group REvil, disagree.
This team of online cyberpunks has hacked into a well-known cosmetic surgery clinic, and they’re threatening to release a bevy of unflattering celebrity photos to the public.
This is just the latest incident in an unprecedented year of cyberattacks.
The Hackers Bragged About Their Attack
According to the BBC, the hacker group REvil announced their attack on its Dark Web page. The group claimed they had acquired “intimate photos of customers” that was “not a completely pleasant sight.” It said that it had acquired 900 gigabytes of patient photographs.
The UK-based cosmetic surgery clinic, The Hospital Group, also known as Transform Hospital Group, confirmed the attack.
The Hospital Group said in a statement:
We can confirm that our IT systems have been subject to a data security breach. None of our patients’ payment card details have been compromised but at this stage, we understand that some of our patients’ personal data may have been accessed.
Who are those ‘patients’? Some are the very celebrities that have previously endorsed The Hospital Group.
Celebrities and Other Cosmetic Surgery Patients Anxiously Wait
Among the celebrities that could be vulnerable to this attack include former Big Brother contestant Aisleyne Horgan-Wallace. She told Zoo Magazine that she used The Hospital Group for breast enhancement surgery in 2009.
Other celebrities who have previously endorsed the clinic include Shameless actor Tina Malone, Atomic Kitten singer Kerry Katona, and Joey Essex, a reality TV star from The Only Way is Essex.
Katona is having a particularly bad week, as she tested positive for Covid-19 right before Christmas.
Other patients are naturally worried about the data breach.
Simon Hails told the BBC that he is ‘concerned.’
He said:
The last thing I want is ‘before photos’ being splattered around in the public domain. I’ve tried to keep my surgery private and not even some of my friends and colleagues know about it, so the data breach is concerning for me.
This ransomware attack is not all that different from revenge porn. Both situations involve people’s private photos or videos being posted online for anyone to see. The only difference is that these hackers are doing it for money, not revenge.
What Is REvil?
The con artists behind this attack, known as REvil, aren’t new to the game. Also known as Sodinokibi, this group is one of the most prolific ransomware gangs around.
The ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) operation first appeared in 2019.
In June 2020, the group stole three databases and over 22,000 files from a Canadian agricultural company. It auctioned up the files on its Dark Web site, “Happy Blog.” The starting price was $50,000.
The group has also breached the currency exchange Travelex and entertainment law firm Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks.
If you think that you’ve been hacked, reach out to us immediately.
Featured image by Zephyr_P via Shutterstock.