Alberta dental firm pays ransomware gang after attack

Nearly 1.5 million Albertans personal information was recently compromised in a dental data breach as Alberta Dental Service Corporation of Canada announced that it was hacked on July 26, with the attacker encrypting some of its IT systems and data, SiliconAngle reports. Lyle Best, corporate president of ADSC, said that the organizations cyberinsurance and forensic investigator was immediately engaged and paid the 8base ransomware gang an undisclosed amount of money after the hackers showed they had deleted the data they stole in the attack. The group uses encryption paired with "name and shame" techniques to pressure its victims into paying ransoms. This breach underscores the critical need for robust security measures in the healthcare sector. Patients personal information must be safeguarded with the utmost vigilance, as the consequences of such incidents extend far beyond the immediate breach, said Erfan Shadabi, a cybersecurity expert with data security specialists comforte AG.