On July 17, DataBreaches reported that BlackCat had added the Beverly Hills Plastic Surgery (BHPS) to their dark web leak site. The June listing was updated to include photos that appeared to be proof of claims about their access to the clinic’s files.
The doctors did not respond to DataBreaches’ inquiries in July, but on August 30, they issued a notification, a copy of which was submitted to the California Attorney General’s Office. The notice explains that on June 16, they became aware of unusual activity and took immediate steps to secure their environment and launch an investigation. The investigation confirmed that data with protected health information had been accessed and acquired.
BHPS’s notice, which appears below, is totally silent on the fact that this was an attack with an extortion demand.
BHPS’s notice, which appears below, is totally silent on the fact that the threat actors leaked some patient data on their dark website and images that were very sensitive and explicit.
BHPS’s notification not only fails to mention the leak site posting that it likely knew about in July at the latest, but it fails to warn patients that their data may be leaked on that site for everyone to see.
BHPS’s lack of full transparency leaves patients in the dark about what really happened. Maybe it will all come out in discovery in some class action lawsuit.
Because their notification to HHS does not yet appear on HHS’s public breach tool, we do not know how many patients have had their personal and protected health information accessed and/or acquired.