Patient records exposed in ransomware attacks: advice

Patient records exposed in ransomware attacks can be devastating for the victims which is why the work that we do is so incredibly important for our clients.

Medical data breach compensation claims are one of the most common types of cases that we represent people for. The impact can be substantial and the pay-outs can be high, and we have plenty of years of experience in this complex and niche area of law as a leading firm of data breach lawyers.

With the sector a clear target for criminals, it’s important that the victims can access the justice that they can be entitled to.

Why is medical information such a target?

Medical information is some of the most private and sensitive that there is in terms of data that we want to remain private and confidential. Because of this fact, it can be valuable for hackers to target because the impact of such information being exposed can be so severe.

This is why patient records exposed in ransomware attacks can be common, and the threat of it happening is very real. To save the significant embarrassment, backlash and financial consequences of such information being exposed, organisations could be tempted to pay the ransom. Criminals are known to set the ransoms at affordable levels as well to maximise the chances of them being paid. Ultimately, they know what they are doing, and they know how to make money from gaining access to information as personal and sensitive as this.

Medical information can also be enough for criminals to target the victims themselves for ransom, theft and fraud. It could be used for identity theft as well.

Compensation for patient records exposed in ransomware attacks

Victims can be entitled to receive medical data breach compensation for patient records exposed in ransomware attacks. The GDPR can allow a victim whose information has been misused or exposed to receive damages for the distress caused by the loss of control of their personal information.

We usually assess data breach compensation amounts based on factors that include:

• The nature of the information involved. The more personal and sensitive it is, the greater the impact can be. This means that the distress can be higher so the value of the claim can be higher;
• The volume of data involved;
• Who information has been misused by, or exposed to;
• The individual impact, which can differ from person to person.

When you consider the above, you can see how information as personal and sensitive as healthcare data can have such a huge impact on the victim. Many medical data breach cases are high value because of this, as the distress that victims suffer from can be substantial.

We have a long history of representing thousands of clients for data breach cases. Many this includes for highly sensitive healthcare breach compensation cases, and infamous group cases like the 56 Dean Street Clinic event of 2015.

Free, no-obligation advice

Our team is on hand now to offer free, no-obligation advice to victims where patient records exposed in ransomware attacks has resulted in distress. We may also be able to offer No Win, No Fee legal representation for eligible cases.

Please see our Contact Page here for ways to get in touch today.

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