LifeLabs , one of the largest diagnostic centers in Canada, has admitted to paying hackers to recover customer data stolen during a hacking attack last month.
According to a press release, the company made this decision (to pay the hackers) after discussion and collaboration with security and professionals specialized in negotiations with cybercriminals.
We do not know the exact amount of money given to the hackers for recovering the data, as no LifeLabs representative has shared this information (yet).
According to documents sent to the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario and the corresponding Office of the British Columbia, thebreach occurred last month, likely onNovember .
It was a ransomware attack, since according to LifeLabs, hackers breached the systems , stole customer data, and then demanded a ransom to return the stolen files.
LifeLabs said that the data of at least 15 million customers was stolen. The information stolen included: names, home addresses, email addresses, usernames, passwords and health card numbers.
Approximately 85,000 customers also lost their medical test results, which were stored in the company's systems.
The stolen data is not recent. It dates back to 2016 and beyond.
The company is cooperating with authorities to investigate the breach incident.
It also stated that it has updated its systems and secured them so that hackers cannot gain access (at least in the same way they broke into the system in this case).
“I want to emphasize that at this time, our cybersecurity companies have advised us that the risk to our customers in relation to this attack is low and that no disclosure of customer data has been identified. Experts have not seen anything on either the dark web or the internet,” said Charles Brown, President and CEO of LifeLabs.
Users affected by the breach can find more information in a security alert on LifeLabs' website.
