Lawsuits Flooding in after Louisiana's Acadian Ambulance Data Breach

It has been reported that Acadian Ambulance has had multiple class-action lawsuits filed against them after a hacker accessed the customer’s personal information in July according to KLFY .

At issue, is information being accessed by a hacker group called Daixan Team, who then threatened Acadian Ambulance that they would release all of the data if the company didn’t pay them a $7 million ransom.

The company’s response was to give a counteroffer of $173,000 which the group refused. So, now what has happened to all of the information?

Another issue to be settled is the company’s reaction after the ransom. How was data protected after that point? What were the defects in their previous security measures that led to the ability of Daixan to get the information?

The scenario of ransoming information from companies continues daily, constantly across our country and the globe. It seems like each week were are hearing of another data breach. Cybersecurity Ventures’ most recent research shows their prediction that by the year 2031, ransomware will cost all of us about $265 billion each year across the globe.

Cybercrime Magazine Editor-in-Chief Steve Morgan says everyone is always at risk,

Cyberattackers will just as quickly strike a hospital as a Fortune 500 organization. The only things that matter are finding an initial access point, encrypting networks, and – when possible – extracting sensitive data to exert pressure on victims for extortion purposes.

The lawsuits, being filed in federal court, are being filed by both patients and former employees after their personal information, including health information, was able to be accessed by Taixan.

Did Acadian Ambulance pay a ransom? If so, how much? What happens to the information gathered by Taixan now?

We did reach out to Acadian Ambulance, but they have no statement at this time.