Bethany Hospital, a prominent healthcare facility in India, has fallen victim to a ransomware attack allegedly orchestrated by the Space Bears cybercrime group. This development adds to the growing list of cyberattacks targeting critical healthcare institutions worldwide, raising concerns over the security of sensitive medical data.
The group claims to have infiltrated the hospital’s systems and exfiltrated significant organisational data. The stolen data includes confidential databases, internal reports, employee records, and patient information.
Bethany Hospital was established to address the need for affordable, modern healthcare in Thane, India. Originating as Lok Hospital in 1997 under Dr Stephen Alfred’s leadership, it evolved into a 190-bed multi-speciality hospital in 2011, combining compassion with advanced medical technology for comprehensive care.
Bethany Hospital has not issued a statement regarding the attack, and the ransom demanded by the attackers remains unknown.
India has been on the radar of cybercrooks for a while now. This can be gauged from the fact that in 2024, India recorded 369 million cyber attacks, averaging 702 per minute. The healthcare sector was the most targeted industry, accounting for about 21.82% of all cyberattacks in the country. This trend is expected to continue this year.
Not only in India, but the healthcare industry is facing cyber attacks worldwide. In December 2024, the data of about 316,000 patients was stolen in Anna Jacques Hospital cyberattack. Similarly, in November 2024, INC Ransom targeted NHS Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool.
Europe, too, saw hospitals being attacked by threat actors. About 18 hospitals in Romania suffered ransomware attacks, rendering them incapable of reporting medical services.
Other examples include data breach in the Center for Vein Restoration, several French hospitals including Centre Luxembourg, Clinique Alleray-Labrouste, and others, blood testing company Synnovis, Texas Tech Health Sciences Centers, healthcare intermediary Datavant, and Change Healthcare.
Since the start of this year, cybercriminals have relentlessly targeted India’s government and private entities. For instance, last week, Indian telecommunication infrastructure giant Indus Towers became a victim of an alleged ransomware attack orchestrated by the Medusa group.
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