How Much is Your Medical Record Worth?

I've been intrigued by the workings & dealings of the dark web for quite some time. It's the sort of place where the craziest and worst things happen. It's also the kind of place where everyday, mundane drug deals go down. And.... it's also the type of place you can scoop up someone's medical record for a couple hundo. Pretty crazy, right? There's actually some "businesses" that can start you a whole new life like in witness protection. For around 8 grand (in bitcoin) you can be a whole new person!

There's no limit to the quick and dirty deals happening on the dark web (& on the "regular" web for that matter.) Interesting to know someone could easily pay a couple hundred to peel over medical record, isn't it? Now, imagine if you were the governor of California or someone important. At this point it would make more sense not to sell your medical record but hold it for ransom, no? And that's exactly what a hacker group known collectively as "The Dark Overlord" is doing, but on a much smaller scale.

Instead they are hacking into small clinics and medical practices in the US and stealing large amounts of patient records, then holding them for ransom. They will demand the clinic then hand over some absurd amount of bitcoin ... like say 40+ bitcoin. Any number really. Many of these clinics are not even making much, if any profit and then find themselves in the uncomfortable position of negotiating with the thief. You can't reason with unreasonable people and the Dark Overlord fit that category.

So far the group seems untouchable, despite recent arrests. However, the group claims none of them have been arrested. Better luck next time FBI. Until then, we have schools and hospitals to concern ourselves with. Pretty crazy.

I think there are some highly intelligent hackers out there and the problem with groups like the dark Overlord is that there will only be more of them and they will only get smarter. Seems we need more hackers willing to take on a fight for the light side but, money & power being heavily alluring, it all just seems a little hopeless at times. What do you think? Be a part of the conversation and leave a comment below.

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Sources:
motherboard.vice.com
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