Verimed

History

2021: Sales of tens of thousands of patients

In December 2021, data from tens of thousands of patients of the Russian drug clinic Verimed were put up for sale. Roskomnadzor began an audit.

A message about the sale of data appeared in Telegram - in a channel specially created for this. For its advertising, a domain similar to the clinic's website was used, noted to Kommersant at Infosecurity a Softline.

For sale are data of tens of thousands of patients of the Russian drug clinic Verimed

The announcement states that the database contains 250,000 records, including passport data, phone numbers, addresses, photo archives, medical histories, as well as corporate data from the clinic. Igor Sergienko, deputy head of Infosecurity a Softline, noted that the announcement looks "quite reliable," but it was not possible to get an example of the base.

There are many private drug treatment clinics in Moscow, but there are few who have a hospital, and Verimed is one of them, says Vyacheslav Filashikhin, a doctor at the Rosa clinic. According to him, if the base really leaked, patients only have reputational risks. Based on such data, the drug dispensary will not register anyone, for this you need an official document, he added.

At least, customers are threatened with advertising medical and related services, a blackmail and extortion scenario is likely, says Dozor Rostelecom Solara Alexei Kubarev, an expert at the products center.

RTM Servicemanager Yevgeny Tsarev emphasized that in the case of treatment for dependencies, patient data become especially sensitive. At the same time, he considers it unlikely that Verimed will face a flurry of lawsuits. According to Tsarev, "the legislative framework is not aimed at this, and the judicial system is unlikely to work towards large compensation."

Verimed itself said that neither the personal data of the clinic's clients nor the medical secrets in the organization were recorded.^[1]

Notes