An analyst from healthcare security firm Cynerio reports that a heap of medical records of deceased people is found available on the dark web. According to the analyst, these reports emerged after the recent data breaches on the healthcare systems.
Dark web is often associated as the platform for illegal activities, and it is contained in the deep web. It can be accessed through the tools such as Tor browser as they are not accessible and available through major search engines.
Compared to a recent trend of stolen card data being sold on the black market, there has been a recent surge in the medical records hawking. This is mostly because of the worth and benefits of medical records to a buyer. But what makes it even more valued is the deceased records being sold in the black market.
According to a vendor selling medical database, there is a whopping amount of 140 million medical data records available on the black market section of the dark web. Along with this, these medical records include individual’s Name, SSN, their Address, ZIP, phone number, Birth date, sex, and insurance.
If that’s not enough, the vendor lists 60,000 medical records among 140 million medical data that are of deceased patients. The vendor lists the price for the packages from $2.00 per record for 100 sets to a $0.60 per record for 10000 set. This accumulates to $280 million for the whole set bought. Bitcoin prices are also listed, as it is often used for the complete anonymous transaction.
If you are wondering why these records and databases are treasured, then these records can help the identity thieves a lot. They can use the deceased records to access the credit card details, applying for medical insurance, and abusing loans.
At times, these identity thieves also exploit the medical record for requesting doctor appointment or obtaining medical drugs illegitimately. To prevent these activities is a hard task since the deceased one can only terminate these transactions and it takes months for the institutions and bureaus to register death records.
The only way to prevent this epidemic healthcare record identity theft is to revamp the healthcare organizations’ record storage. The organizations should be informed about advanced-cyber security systems to protect their data. Also, the sharing of deceased data records should be processed instantly to the respective institutions and bureaus so that the account is terminated.