Personal data of around 1.4 million people, who tested for Covid-19 in Ile-de-France in mid-2020, have been stolen “Following a computer attack”, announced, Wednesday September 15, the Public Assistance-Hospitals of Paris (AP-HP).
The perpetrators of the attack did not target the national screening tests file (SI-Dep) but “A secure file sharing service”, whose name has not been communicated, used “Very occasionally in September 2020” to send information to Medicare and regional health agencies “Useful to “contact tracing” “.
This data includes “The identity, social security number and contact details of the people tested”, as well as “The identity and contact details of the healthcare professionals taking charge of them, the characteristics and the result of the test carried out” – or the information entered in SI-Dep when performing a screening test. “No other medical data” is not affected, according to the AP-HP.
Interested parties “will be informed in the coming days”
This attack was “Driving during the summer [2021] and confirmed on September 12 ”, wrote in a statement the AP-HP, which added to have lodged a complaint Wednesday with the prosecutor of Paris. The facts were also reported to the National Commission for Informatics and Freedoms and the National Agency for the Security of Information Systems.
In total, “The stolen files concern around 1.4 million people, almost exclusively for tests carried out in mid-2020 in Ile-de-France”, specifies the AP-HP, assuring that those concerned “Will be informed individually in the coming days”. The institution recognizes that “The theft could be linked to a recent security breach in the digital tool” that it uses for file sharing, including “Access was immediately cut off pending the end of the investigations”. These last “Are continuing to determine the origin and modus operandi of this attack”.
www.lemonde.fr