Hacker steals 40,000 patients' data from kidney hospital

Hacker steals 40,000 patients' data from kidney hospital

Thirachai Chantharotsiri, director of Bhumirajanagarindra Kidney Institute Hospital, talks to reporters at Phaya Thai police station, where he filed a complaint on Wednesday that patients' data had been stolen. (Photo: Wassayos Ngamkham)
Thirachai Chantharotsiri, director of Bhumirajanagarindra Kidney Institute Hospital, talks to reporters at Phaya Thai police station, where he filed a complaint on Wednesday that patients' data had been stolen. (Photo: Wassayos Ngamkham)

The personal details of more than 40,000 patients at Bhumirajanagarindra Kidney Institute Hospital have been stolen by a hacker, hospital director Thirachai Chantharotsiri said on Wednesday.

Dr Thirachai said staff of the hospital in Ratchathewi district of Bangkok could not access the database of patients on Monday. A check on the system found that the information had been stolen.

The stolen data included patients' personal information and treatment history, he said 

Dr Thirachai said a man speaking in English called the hospital later on Monday claiming he had hacked the system. He said he would call again on Tuesday to arrange payment in exchange for returning the information.

The hospital director said he had filed a complaint with Phaya Thai police, with a copy of the recorded conversation, after he did not hear from the man again. 

Dr Thirachai said the hospital had a backup system, but some information had been lost and would cause service delays.

Computer techs were trying to recover the lost data, he said.

Bhumirajanagarindra Kidney Institute Hospital is the second hospital to be hacked recently. The personal data of about 10,000 patients was found to have been stolen from a Phetchabun Hospital on Sunday.

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