Employee health information compromised in Sony Pictures hack

A recent cyberattack on Sony Pictures has sent, not only personal emails and employee salary information out across the Web--but sensitive health information, as well.

Documents obtained by the hackers include health information on dozens of employees, their children or spouses, according to a report from Bloomberg.

Some of the information leaked includes a memo with treatment and diagnosis details about an employee's child with special needs, as well as a spreadsheet from a human resources folder containing birth dates, health conditions and medical costs for more than 30 Sony employees, according to the report.

This is just the latest in a string of attacks compromising patients' health information, including a hack that impacted more than 4.5 million patients at Community Health Systems.

The release of this kind of information may be some of the most damaging, Deborah Peel, director of Patient Privacy Rights, tells Bloomberg.

Hackers who go by Guardians of Peace, according to the report, have been releasing documents onto the Internet since late November. Sony's internal probe currently links the attack to hackers known as DarkSeoul.

While security experts predict increased cyberattacks on healthcare organizations in 2015, they foresee phishing and ransomware posing particular challenges.

In addition, healthcare information is becoming a vulnerable and attractive target for cybercriminals, according to Experian's 2015 Data Breach Industry Forecast.

To learn more:
- read the Bloomberg report