Only around 10,000 patients’ records stolen from hospital: Health Ministry
Authorities on Tuesday downplayed the theft of patients’ data from a hospital in Petchabun, saying the case is not as serious as initially thought.
Thongchai Keeratihattayakorn, Public Health Ministry deputy permanent secretary, said the hacker obtained the personal details of more than 10,000 patients at Petchabun Hospital in the lower-north province.
Initial reports said details of up to 16 million patients had been hacked. Thongchai said the 16-million figure actually referred to records containing information on a total of 10,095 patients.
The stolen data included names, surnames, telephone numbers, illnesses, date of hospitalisation and the name of the doctors treating the patients in question.
“The hospital system is still operating normally. All information is still there,” said Thongchai.
The hospital is now securing and backing up the database with help from the National Cybersecurity Committee and Digital Economy and Society Ministry, he added.
A complaint has been filed over the data theft but the motive and identity of the hacker are still unknown.
The theft was reported on Sunday (September 5) when the hacked data was discovered for sale online. Thongchai said the stolen details did not come from the hospital’s main database and did not include diagnosis, treatment or lab results.
