Yesterday, Karakurt threat actors added the Methodist McKinny Hospital in Texas to their dark web leak site. They listed the hospital as a “pre-release,” which is their way of putting pressure on a victim — or trying to put pressure on a victim — to pay so their data is not leaked or auctioned off.
In this case, Karakurt claimed to have 367 GB of “accounting reports, executive and financial documents and much more.”
But their announcement fell somewhat short in the drama department because the hospital had already announced the breach weeks ago.
On July 29, Methodist McKinney Hospital (“MMH”), Methodist Allen Surgical Center (“MASC”), and Methodist Craig Ranch Surgical Center (“MCRSC”) provided notice on the hospital’s website.
In an FAQ format, they reported that they first became aware of unusual activity on their systems on July 5. Their subsequent investigation confirmed that there had been access to their systems between May 20, 2022, and July 7, 2022, and that the unauthorized individual had copied certain files.
Based on their preliminary investigation, they determined that the information present in the systems included name, address, Social Security number, date of birth, medical history information, medical diagnosis information, treatment information, medical record number, and health insurance information. The type of information might vary by individual.
You can read their full preliminary notice of July 29 on their site. It was most recently updated on August 3.
The notice does not mention any ransom demands, and it remains to be seen whether or how the entities will update their notice. No complimentary mitigation services like credit monitoring or identity theft restoration services are mentioned.
This incident has not appeared on HHS’s public breach tool, but an entry for Methodist McKinney Hospital and Methodist Craig Ranch Surgical Center did appear on the Texas Attorney General’s breach tool on August 16 with a report that 632 Texans were affected.