PHETCHABUN: Officials have rushed to downplay the theft by a hacker of more than 10,000 patients' personal details from Phetchabun Hospital, desc

Hacked hospital patients' data 'not important'

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2021-09-07 15:00:07

PHETCHABUN: Officials have rushed to downplay the theft by a hacker of more than 10,000 patients' personal details from Phetchabun Hospital, describing the information as "not important".

Phetchabun governor Krit Kongmuang was among those who responded to initial reports on social media that the data of 16 million patients of the Public Health Ministry had been hacked and put up for sale on Sunday.

On Tuesday morning Mr Krit quoted the Phetchabun public health office as reporting that data was lost from Phetchabun Hospital, but involved nowhere near as many as 16 million patients.

Reports on social media said the personal information of about 16 million patients of the Public Health Ministry had been stolen and put up for sale for US$500, to be paid in a crypto currency.

Dr Thongchai Keeratihattayakorn, deputy permanent secretary for public health, said at the Public Health Ministry in Nonthaburi in the afternoon that the hacked information was not in the primary database the hospital used to provide public services, and the hospital continued to operate as normal.