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Updated August 22nd, 2020 at 18:26 IST

FBI launches criminal probe into South Dakota COVID-19 data breach

Letter said that the South Dakota Department of Public Safety’s State Fusion Center and Department of Health and law enforcement used Netsential.com services.

Reported by: Zaini Majeed
FBI
| Image:self
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In a major data breach that compromised the identity of COVID-19 patients in South Dakota, US, the FBI has launched a federal criminal probe, South Dakota Department of Public Safety Director Paul Niedringhaus informed in the letter dispatched to those affected, a news agency report confirmed, citing the document. Content of the letter said that the South Dakota Department of Public Safety’s State Fusion Center and Department of Health and law enforcement used Netsential.com’s services that build a secure online portal for first responders to identify and respond to COVID-19 patients in case of emergency calls. These details weren’t given to the South Dakota state police but were used to call the dispatcher. Houston-based Netsentials, however, included labels to the files that permitted third-party servers to access, modify patient’s details which led to the compromise of citizens’ address, name, and COVID-19 status. 

"This information may continue to be available on various internet sites that link to files from the Netsential breach," the content of the letter read.

In June, the host website of over 200 US law enforcement agencies raised an alarm about its servers being compromised. Sever incorporated trove of files, dubbed BlueLeaks, that shared the transparency collective called DDoSecrets across the World Wide Web. An investigation revealed that the systems were hacked by cyberattackers who had an inclination for the anti-racial, #BlackLivesMatter demonstrators. They gained access illegally for the records. South Dakota Department of Public Safety spokesman Tony Mangan said in a telephone interview with Associated Press that the FBI got involved in the matter, however, he disclosed no further details. Whereas, a text message left on August 21 at the FBI’s Minneapolis office by the agency wasn’t responded to immediately. Meanwhile, the state agency’s letter mentioned that the labelled files had no mention of the citizen’s Social Security numbers, passwords, or other confidential information, AP report confirmed. 

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Civil liberties warn of immigration officers

Country’s civil liberty establishment members have resonated concerns about such data breach leading to racial profiling with respect to healthcare availability in the state, citing safety concerns, especially for the Blacks and Hispanics. In a report, the groups warned people of colour about the immigration officers or the state police tracing them down via their leaked identities. At least the 2/3rd of the South Dakota State had registered details with first responders, including police, firefighters and EMTs. 

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(With AP Inputs)

(Image Credit: Instagram/@FBI)

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Published August 22nd, 2020 at 18:26 IST

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