Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Hackers sought in data ransom case

|
|
 
  
Published: May 8, 2009 at 9:25 AM

RICHMOND, Va., May 8 (UPI) -- The FBI and Virginia State Police are searching for hackers who claim to have stolen millions of personal records from the state's prescription drug database.

The hackers threatened to sell the records unless they received $10 million in ransom by Thursday but the deadline passed with no immediate sign that they followed through, The Washington Post reported Friday.

The Virginia drug database contains 8 million patient records and 35 million prescriptions. If the theft is real, it would be the most serious cybercrime Virginia has faced in recent history, the newspaper said.

Sandra Whitley Ryals, director of Virginia's Department of Health Professions, said the drug program's computer system was shut down after officials learned of the breach on April 30. She said all records were backed up and the files have been secured.

Gov. Tim Kaine called the incident "an intentional criminal act against the commonwealth by somebody who was trying to harm others."

© 2009 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
The Tibetan Moniam Festival in China Super Bowl XLVI ticker tape victory parade The making of the Oscars
The Chicago Auto Show The Most Desirable Women of 2012 Tu Bishvat Migron settlement
Additional Top News Stories
1 of 25
Meryl Streep and Colin Firth attend the "BAFTA" ceremony in London
View Caption
fark
Expect the Hoverboard to be in stores around October 21, 2015
If you say "I do not favor women wearing provocative clothes and always feel they need to be dignified...
Planning a stunt marriage proposal today? Well, the wife of Slashdot's founder, who received one...
You're a K-9 cop out on a call and have to send your dog to take down a robber who is in the country...
Why will Whitney Houston's toxicology reports take weeks? Coroner's office: Because this ain't CSI...
Eight surefire ways to get dumped on Valentine's Day