Medusa hackers release stolen PhilHealth data

MANILA, Philippines — Filipinos should brace for a barrage of online scams in the coming days after hackers who stole data from state-run Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) have leaked members’ information to online – and possibly criminal – groups.

Reports coming from dark web informants showed that documents stolen from PhilHealth were publicized in online marketplaces like Telegram starting yesterday.

Deep Web Konek, a group dedicated to publishing activities in the dark web, shared a screenshot showing large packets of files containing alleged information on PhilHealth members.

As such, the group warned that PhilHealth members should be vigilant in the coming days. Data uploaded on the dark web are usually exploited by criminal groups involved in digital fraud ranging from messaging scams to identity theft.

Another report indicated that PhilHealth files in online marketplaces contain documents compressed in 160 folders. In total, these files amount to 600 GB of data.

The STAR reached out to the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) for comment, but received no response.

Earlier, PhilHealth admitted that it has yet to determine the number of records taken by Medusa, but expressed belief that sensitive information were included in the ransomware attack.

These data include name, address, birthday, sex, mobile number and identification number.

PhilHealth has committed to notify members whose personal information was deemed compromised. The state-run insurer also asked contributors to take precautions right away, including monitoring their credit reports for unauthorized activities.

PhilHealth also said members should place a fraud alert on their credit reports. Contributors are also advised to change their passwords in all digital accounts, particularly in financial platforms, and keep an eye on phishing emails and smishing texts.

In a text message to reporters, the National Privacy Commission (NPC) said it is looking into the liability of PhilHealth in the data breach.

“As for PhilHealth’s liability, we are currently assessing whether negligence was involved on its part before making any definitive statements, but in