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Hey everyone, welcome to the Inside Scoop.
I'm CNET's Kara Tsuboi, joined by Senior Writer Seth Rosenblatt.
Hi Kara.
Hey Seth.
So today we're learned that a major medical group has been hacked,
Yes.
By some Chinese hackers.
Yes.
Tell us about the, the breach.
So the group was hacked by unknown Chinese hackers using what is called an advanced persistent threat, meaning that the group uses a variety of techniques to get at specifics information and they're not looking just to get financial data, they're looking to get specifics from wherever database they're going after.
206 hospitals were affected.
4.5 million personal records.
And this was Community Hospital Services.
Yes.
That's the name of the group.
Yes.
And, how many states?
I think it was 29 states.
Okay.
And the information that the hackers were after?
It's not really clear.
They didn't get anybody's medical records.
It looks like it was just named email addresses, social security numbers, and that's actually enough if you can identi-, if you can connect to other similar addresses or names you could probably wind up creating credit cards in that person's name or doing other kinds of identity theft.
Techniques.
But what if you're one of the people who has been effected, 4.5 million people, what can you do to protect yourself?
That's a good question, unfortunately right now I don't think there's a lot that you can do besides keeping an eye on your name as it appears on the internet, keep an eye on your personal records, make sure that you, there's no charges to your credit card, that no extra cards get sent out.
And just be vigilant.
And it's, a little bit scary but unfortunately all that you can do at the moment.
And it seems like there's nothing these people could have done to protect themselves proactively.
No.
And that's really what I think the big problem here is.
That this is another example of a company-.
That has a lot of personal information that is not taking the necessary steps to protect it, and to protect their customers.
In this case it's hospitals, they could have been going after a specific senior executive.
That's a very common technique for advance persistent attacks, but honestly it's hard to tell right now.
So what do we know about this hacking group and what they're motivation might have been?
Like you said, an executive-
Right.
Just to kind of send a message to the American government-
Sure.
Do we know any details?
We really don't have any details on this particular group.
There's a. There's certainly a lot of news about Chinese hackers.
They're not all the same group, and we don't really know anything ab out this one at the moment.
Whether it's connected to their government or not.
Right, exactly.
Okay.
So, in the meantime, just keep an eye on your information, and.
And?>>Keep an eye on your information.
If you do have to go to a hospital it's a good idea to ask them what they do to protect your information.
It may not actually gain you any information but it lets them know that you're aware of what's going on.>>Great.
Good tips.
Thank you.
Seth Rosenblatt, senior writer.
I'm Kara Tsuboi, thanks for watching The Inside Scoop.
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