21st May 2021, Kathmandu
Some cybersecurity researchers have unearthed personal medical details and records of patients who were up for sale on the dark web.
Investigators say they have seen a “sharp increase” in vaccine-related dark net adverts, while the BBC has not been able to verify if the vaccines are real.
The darknet, also called the dark web, is a part of the internet that is only accessible through specific browser tools.
Researchers at cyber-security institute Check Point had monitored hacking forums and other marketplaces since January when vaccine notice first appeared.
They say the number of ads they have seen has tripled to more than 1,200.
Sellers of vaccines seem to be from the US, UK, Spain, Germany, France, and Russia.
The team found several adverts in Russian Cyrillic text as well as in English.
It’s no surprise then that fraud documents are being offered on the darknet for sale.
CheckPoint investigators get many sellers offering forged documents, including one supposedly from the UK, with a vaccination card for $150 using the hard-to-trace cryptocurrency Bitcoin as the payment technique.
When they got in touch with the seller, the team was told that they just needed to provide their names, some dates for when the fake jabs occurred. The seller messaged: “You don’t have to worry…it’s our job….we have done this to many people and all good.”
The insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India has already warned insurers against using health records without a patient’s consent after being flooded with complaints from policyholders over claim denials.