Patients of Richard Davis, MD, have reported that they have received ransom demands from a cybercriminal who threatens to release their public information if they don’t pay the demand.
Dr. Davis is the owner of The Center for Facial Restoration in Miramar, Fla. In November, he discovered that his server had been infected with ransomware. The cybercriminals claimed to have access to patient data and that it would be publicly exposed if Dr. Davis did not pay the ransom.
After filing a complaint with the FBI Cyber Crimes, Dr. Davis met with the FBI to begin investigating the incident. Since the ransomware attack, Dr. Davis has installed new hard drives, firewalls and malware detection software.
Dr. Davis estimates that the personally identifiable information of up to 3,500 former and current patients may have been exposed due to the ransomware attack. Patients who have been threated with ransom demands are urged to report the incident with the FBI.
"I deeply regret that individuals currently or [formerly] under my care have been victimized by this criminal act, and I urge you to monitor your financial information closely. A photocopy of [patients'] driver's license, home address, email address, telephone number and insurance policy numbers were routinely kept on file for most patients, as well as credit card payment receipts," Dr. Davis said in a statement.