The scale of data leaks of patients with coronavirus in Russia has become known

More than a third of all cases of leaks of personal data of patients with coronavirus, as well as suspected cases, occurred in Russia.

According to InfoWatch, in just the first half of 2020, there were 72 cases of personal data leakage related to coronavirus infection, of which 25 were in the Russian Federation. Leaks in Russia were caused by employees of hospitals, airports, and other organizations with access to information resources. In general, for this reason, 75% of leaks occurred in the world, another 25% were due to hacker attacks.

The company clarified that in 64% of cases worldwide, personal data associated with coronavirus was compromised in the form of lists. Patient lists were photographed and distributed via messengers or social media groups. Some leaks were due to the accidental sending of data by managers to the wrong email addresses.

According to InfoWatch, 96% of cases on the territory of the Russian Federation are leaks of lists, and 4% are leaks of databases.  In all cases, data leaks occurred due to willful violations. InfoWatch stressed that the disclosure of such data often led to a negative attitude towards coronavirus patients from the society.

The Russian Federal Headquarters for coronavirus declined to comment.  Moreover, the press service of the Moscow Department of Information Technology reported that since the beginning of 2020, there have been no leaks of personal data from the information systems of the Moscow government.

In Russia, there are no adequate penalties for organizations in which personal data leaks occurred, said Igor Bederov, CEO of Internet search. In addition, there is still no understanding of the need to protect personal data in electronic systems. There are not enough qualified specialists in this industry. As a result, network cloud storage used by companies, including for processing personal data, is poorly protected.