Panorama Eyecare recently reported a data breach that compromised the personal information of 377,911 individuals. The breach occurred between May 22, 2023, and June 4, 2023, and was discovered on June 3, 2023. The compromised data includes names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, driver’s license numbers, financial account information, dates of service, and medical provider names.
Panorama Eyecare, based in Fort Collins, Colorado, partners with various eyecare providers and manages their operations. Upon detecting suspicious activity, they secured their network and initiated a forensic investigation with cybersecurity specialists to assess the extent of the breach. Notification letters were sent to the affected individuals on June 5, 2024, informing them of the breach and the specific information compromised.
On July 15, 2023, the Russia-linked LockBit gang listed Panorama Eyecare as a victim on its website on the dark web, suggesting the attack might be linked to this group. Cybernews has reached out to Panorama Eyecare for further comments, but no response has been received yet .
It was a ransomware attack. Ransomware is a malware designed to deny a user or organization access to files on their computer. By encrypting these files and demanding a ransom payment for the decryption key, cyberattacks place organizations in a position where paying the ransom is the easiest and cheapest way to regain access to their files. Some variants have added additional functionality – such as data theft – to provide further incentive for ransomware victims to pay the ransom.
This is not new. Here are the biggest ransomware attacks in history.
WannaCry (2017) This attack affected hundreds of thousands of computers worldwide, causing an estimated $4 billion in losses.
NotPetya (2017) Initially disguised as Petya, this variant caused a global ransomware outbreak, resulting in losses of around $10 billion.
SamSam (2016) Targeting organizations, SamSam demanded ransoms and caused substantial damage.
CryptoLocker (2013) One of the earliest major ransomware attacks, CryptoLocker infected numerous systems and demanded payments in Bitcoin.
Bad Rabbit (2017) This attack affected Eastern European countries and disrupted critical systems
References
https://cybernews.com/news/panorama-eyecare-breach/
https://www.thelyonfirm.com/blog/panorama-eyecare-data-breach-investigation/
https://www.checkpoint.com/cyber-hub/threat-prevention/ransomware/
A timeline of the biggest ransomware attacks - CNET
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