Personal data of 243 million Brazilians left open online for months
Sensitive information was exposed for at least six months
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More than 243 million Brazilians have had their personal information exposed online due to a source code error present within the website belonging to the country’s ministry of health. The issue, which reportedly left data visible for at least six months, demonstrates yet again that basiccybersecurityprotocols remain lacking within many organizations.
According to reports, the personal information of anyone registered with Brazil’s national health system could be viewed through relatively simple methods. Names, addresses, telephone numbers, and medical details could be viewed, including those belonging to some individuals that have since passed away.
The problem centered on the fact that the credentials needed to access the database of personal information could be decoded from the source code of the health service’s website. As website source codes can be accessed via a simple keyboard shortcut, patient records were potentially exposed to a wide number of threat actors.
Security in poor health
Although there is currently no evidence that personal health records were accessed, it remains concerning just how easily they could have been. Heath records can contain highly sensitive information and cyberattackers are able to sell them for sizable sums on the black market.
Perhaps more worrying, the healthcare leak follows evidence ofanother web portalowned by the Brazilian government displaying similarly lax security credentials. What’s more, it is only a week since a Sao Paolo hospital leaked health information for more than 16 million Brazilian Covid-19 patients.
As healthcare providers have moved to embrace digital technologies they have undoubtedly unlocked a number of new efficiencies. Unfortunately, they have also introduced new vulnerabilities, ones that cyberattackers are always looking to exploit.
ViaThe Verge
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Barclay has been writing about technology for a decade, starting out as a freelancer with ITProPortal covering everything from London’s start-up scene to comparisons of the best cloud storage services. After that, he spent some time as the managing editor of an online outlet focusing on cloud computing, furthering his interest in virtualization, Big Data, and the Internet of Things.
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