Hacking gang BlackCat says it stole data trove from UK hospital group

ALPHV is known to deploy ransomware, a kind of malicious software that encrypts a victim’s computers and renders them inoperable. It then demands payment to unlock the computers and threatens to publish stolen data. Increasingly, however, hacking gangs are foregoing ransomware and just stealing data, then threatening to publish it online unless they are paid. — Image by drobotdean on Freepik

A gang of cybercriminals says it has breached one of the UK’s largest hospital groups and is threatening to publish a trove of its confidential data.

The gang, known as ALPHV or BlackCat, posted a statement on Jun 30 claiming it had obtained seven terabytes of internal documents from the Barts Health NHS Trust, which manages five hospitals in London that care for about 2.5 million people, according to the Trust’s website.