Dutch vaccine company Bilthoven Biologicals was hit in September by a ransomware attack by the cybercriminal group Blackcat, RTL Nieuws discovered . Various data was allegedly stolen during the attack, part of which has now been published on the dark web.
Blackcat told the medium that “information about vaccines, scientific research, emails and documents” was stolen in the attack, but assures that “most information is not published”. Bilthoven Biologicals develops vaccines against bladder cancer, polio, diphtheria and tetanus, among other things.
According to the company, only a small part of the company’s data has been stolen, but because personal data may also have been misappropriated, a report has been made to the Dutch Data Protection Authority. In such a situation, this process is mandatory in the Netherlands. A cybersecurity company that is investigating the attack on behalf of the company is preparing a report. It has not been made public whether the cyber criminals have been paid or what information has been published on the dark web.
