Austrian Patient Data Landed on the Net
A reader, Ewald Proll, sends this breach report:
In Austria, hackers retrieved from the internet a database containing emergency data. These data had been transmitted unsecured and were intercepted by an individual, using a scanner, a soundcard, and a freely distributed piece of software. The authorities refused to comment this leakage so far.
Source: Heise online 8.9.09
A Google translation of the Heise article is hard to follow, but the data seemed to be from the emergency services network used to alert and dispatch emergency medical units. A patient record would contain the patient’s name, address, where they might be transferred to, and a diagnostic code for the type of problem. The article seems to question why when a new system was implemented, encryption was waived.