The hacker responsible for illegally accessing MacKay Memorial Hospital’s systems and trying to sell patients’ personal information after a failed ransom attempt is a Chinese national named Lo Chengyu (羅政宇), residing in China’s Zhejiang Province, the Criminal Investigation Bureau said yesterday.
The bureau said it has forwarded the case to the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office on Tuesday and has issued a wanted notice for Lo.
Lo is accused of contravening articles 346, 359 and 360 of the Criminal Code and the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法).
Photo: AP
Lo’s wanted status makes him the first Chinese hacker who Taiwanese authorities have identified.
MacKay Memorial Hospital was attacked on Feb. 6 by ransomware uploaded by Lo, who went by the pseudonym of Crazyhunter, the bureau’s High-Tech Crime Center Director-General Rufus Lin (林建隆) said.
Lo demanded a ransom of US$100,000, which the hospital refused, Lin said.
The hacker then put the personal information of about 16.6 million hospital patients on sale on Feb. 28, which prompted the hospital to report the hacking to the Taipei City Police Department’s Zhongshan Precinct, Lin said.
The case was jointly investigated by the Taipei City Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division and the center, Lin said.
Investigators found that 11 establishments had been targeted in cybercrime cases in the past two months, and the malware coding and methods were similar, Lin said.
Police traced the Internet protocols from these cases to Lo, a 20-year-old Zhejiang resident working at an Internet security firm, he said.
Lo had demanded a total of US$800,000 to US$2.5 million from all establishments and received at least US$1 million in illegal proceeds, the bureau said.
Lo’s actions undermined Taiwan’s social order, and his demand for ransom was a psychological threat to Taiwanese, it said.
Additional reporting by Chiu Chun-fu
TRAGEDY STRIKES TAIPEI: The suspect died after falling off a building after he threw smoke grenades into Taipei Main Station and went on a killing spree in Zhongshan A 27-year-old suspect allegedly threw smoke grenades in Taipei Main Station and then proceeded to Zhongshan MRT Station in a random killing spree that resulted in the death of the suspect and two other civilians, and seven injured, including one in critical condition, as of press time last night. The suspect, identified as a man surnamed Chang Wen (張文), allegedly began the attack at Taipei Main Station, the Taipei Fire Department said, adding that it received a report at 5:24pm that smoke grenades had been thrown in the station. One man in his 50s was rushed to hospital after a cardiac arrest
A car bomb killed a senior Russian general in southern Moscow yesterday morning, the latest high-profile army figure to be blown up in a blast that came just hours after Russian and Ukrainian delegates held separate talks in Miami on a plan to end the war. Kyiv has not commented on the incident, but Russian investigators said they were probing whether the blast was “linked” to “Ukrainian special forces.” The attack was similar to other assassinations of generals and pro-war figures that have either been claimed, or are widely believed to have been orchestrated, by Ukraine. Russian Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, 56, head
SAFETY FIRST: Double the number of police were deployed at the Taipei Marathon, while other cities released plans to bolster public event safety Authorities across Taiwan have stepped up security measures ahead of Christmas and New Year events, following a knife and smoke bomb attack in Taipei on Friday that left four people dead and 11 injured. In a bid to prevent potential copycat incidents, police deployments have been expanded for large gatherings, transport hubs, and other crowded public spaces, according to official statements from police and city authorities. Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said the city has “comprehensively raised security readiness” in crowded areas, increased police deployments with armed officers, and intensified patrols during weekends and nighttime hours. For large-scale events, security checkpoints and explosives
PUBLIC SAFETY: The premier said that security would be tightened in transport hubs, while President Lai commended the public for their bravery The government is to deploy more police, including rapid response units, in crowded public areas to ensure a swift response to any threats, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after a knife attack killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei the previous day. Lai made the remarks following a briefing by the National Police Agency on the progress of the investigation, saying that the attack underscored the importance of cooperation in public security between the central and local governments. The attack unfolded in the early evening on Friday around Taipei Main Station’s M7 exit and later near the Taipei MRT’s Zhongshan
RSS