Florida health department data captured in cyberattack hackers claim

pTALLAHASSEE â A hacker group claims it has breached the Florida Department of Health and gained access to a large amount of potentially sensitive data on FloridiansppThe RansomHub ransomware group said in a post on the dark web that it will release 100 gigabytes of department data unless the state pays an undisclosed amount of money A database of all of the stateâs payments to contractors in a year takes up about 01 gigabytesppWhat type of information the group possesses or even whether it possesses any is unclear A spokesperson for the department which reports to Gov Ron DeSantis confirmed on Wednesday the department experienced âa potential cyber incidentâ The TimesHerald has asked the state about the hack since FridayppThe Department of Health holds some of the stateâs most sensitive information including individualsâ COVID19 vaccine records prescriptions for controlled substances and medical marijuana patient datappThe hacking group which hit Christieâs auction house earlier this year is giving the state until Friday to pay to recover the data according to its site on the dark web The dark web is a subset of the internet used by people and groups to hide their locations and identitiesppFloridaâs government has a policy of not paying ransomwareppDepartment of Health press secretary Jae Williams would only confirm that the attack affected the stateâs online Vital Statistics system used to issue birth and death certificatesppThe TimesHerald reported Tuesday that state tax collectorsâ offices and funeral homes have been unable to issue birth and death certificates since last week when the Department of Healthâs online system went downppBut as of Wednesday at least two Pasco County health offices regained the ability to print birth and death certificates said Mike Fasano the Pasco tax collectorppâThe Department is coordinating with law enforcement and all relevant stakeholdersâ Williams said in a statement adding that any affected parties will be notified âas a comprehensive assessment of the situation is completedâppWhile state and local governments across the country have struggled to combat a growing number of ransomware attacks Floridaâs state government has had unique problemsppAfter DeSantis created a new cybersecurity agency for state government he appointed a former state lawmaker with no training on the subject to lead itppThe hire led to a wave of the stateâs top cybersecurity experts quitting Today Florida is one of the only states in the nation without a chief information officerppIn the last three years information on more than 10 million Floridians â equivalent to nearly half of the stateâs population â has been exposed to hackers during breaches at state agencies according to annual reports filed by the attorney generalâs officeppBecome a Times subscriber to get our afternoon newsletter The RundownppWant more of our free weekly newsletters in your inbox Letâs get startedppThe reports do not say which state agencies were struck But in many cases the state paid for credit monitoring services for Floridians whose personal information was released In some cases the exposed information included Social Security numbers driverâs license numbers and dates of birthppThe Florida Department of Health oversees the stateâs 67 county health departments and licenses doctors nurses and dozens of other healthrelated professionsppThe department is led by Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo who has championed DeSantisâ antiCOVID19 vaccine efforts and was condemned by public health officials this year for telling parents it was OK to send unvaccinated kids to school during a measles outbreakppTimes staff writer Christopher Spata contributed to this reportppLawrence Mower is a Tallahassee correspondent covering politics and the state capitol Reach him at lmowertampabaycom ppRomy Ellenbogen is a Tallahassee correspondent covering state government with a focus on criminal justice and health Reach her at rellenbogentampabaycom
ppChristopher OâDonnell is the health and medicine reporter He can be reached at codonnelltampabaycomppThe Tampa Bay Times eNewspaper is a digital replica of the printed paper seven days a week that is available to read on desktop mobile and our app for subscribers only To enjoy the eNewspaper every day please subscribep