US-based cyber-security firm FireEye discovered a hack into a leading Indian healthcare website, stealing more than 68 lakh data of both doctors and patients.
The FireEye did not name the website but said that the cybercriminals mostly from China are selling the stolen data in web portals around the world.
"In February, a bad actor that goes by the name "fallensky519" stole 6,800,000 records associated with an India-based healthcare website that contains patient information and personally identifiable information (PII), doctor information and PII and credentials," FireEye said in its report shared with IANS.
According to FireEye, in between October 1, 2018, and March 31, 2019, their intelligence team stumbled upon on multiple healthcare-associated databases which were for sale in $2,000.
"In particular, it is likely that an area of unique interest is cancer-related research, reflective of China's growing concern over increasing cancer and mortality rates, and the accompanying national health care costs," the cyber-security agency noted.
"Targetting medical research and data from studies may enable Chinese corporations to bring new drugs to market faster than Western competitors," the report claimed.
