The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) has issued a warning and advised its clients to be cautious and safeguard their personal data to avoid the risk of data breaches by hackers.

The warning came after a cyberattack on September 22 that reportedly stole personal information of millions of individuals believed to be participants in PhilHealth’s insurance programmes.

The hackers disclosed stolen data, including confidential health-related records, with the intention of exerting pressure on the Government and demanding a ransom of 300,000 USD. Additionally, information of PhilHealth employees was also compromised.

PhilHealth and the Philippine Government have not provided specific details about the number of individuals affected by this incident. As of June 30, PhilHealth’s website reported that the corporation had over 59 million participants in its insurance programmes, including both direct and indirect beneficiaries, or more than half of the Southeast Asian country’s population.

An investigation into the scale of the attack is currently underway, and the National Privacy Commission (NPC) of the Philippines described the amount of data stolen as “staggering”./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency