PhilHealth Faces Serious Threat from Medusa Hacking Group, Public Reacts with ‘Haha’
The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) is currently grappling with a serious issue concerning the Medusa Hacking group’s demand for a significant sum of money to prevent their malicious plan of exposing the confidential data of the social insurance system. The hackers are demanding $300,000 or approximately P17 million from the government and have issued a threat to publicly divulge private data if the payment is not made. Consequently, Capstone-Intel Corporation has undertaken a study to analyze the public discourse surrounding the matter. An online scan from July 27 to September 27, 2023 was done with the use of various social listening tools to dive deep into the insights and sentiments of the public about the issue mentioning “PhilHealth Medusa.” In terms of top posts, the present topic concerns the performance of various Facebook pages belonging to news agencies and influencers. According to Capstone-Intel analysis, GMA News obtained the highest engagement score of 528.4, followed by the Philippine Star with 315.9, and Rappler with 145.4. The GMA News page has documented a range of reactions for its article, “PhilHealth hit by Medusa ransomware, aims for site restoration by Monday,” including 40% Haha, 38% Like, 16% Sad, 3% Wow, 2% Angry, 1% Loves, and 396 shares. Similarly, the Philippine Star has recorded a variety of reactions to its news, “PhilHealth hackers demand $300,000 – DICT,” totaling 52% Haha, 17% Likes, 15% Wow, 14% Sad, 2 Angry, 1% Love, and 275 shares. Furthermore, Rappler has also the public’s reactions from its news report, “PhilHealth hit by ransomware – report,” with 28 Likes, 20 Haha, 12 Sad, 10 Wows, 2 Angry, 0 Love, and 138 shares. While some individuals may find humor in the current situation concerning PhilHealth, Capstone-Intel recognizes that the government is implementing measures to address the matter, and it is crucial that we acknowledge these efforts. “It is possible that public laughter could be a response to the occurrence of an unexpected event that could have been prevented with adequate precautions. Nevertheless, it is crucial to acknowledge that the government is taking measures to address this issue,” explains Capstone-Intel. “The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) is tackling a ransomware attack on PhilHealth’s systems, restoring functionality and monitoring logs to ensure system stability. As part of their efforts, the DICT is continuing to investigate and monitor the logs from the affected systems and is taking all necessary measures to fully secure and ensure the stability of PhilHealth’s systems,” it said. Meanwhile, according to the findings of the study, the total number of responses related to the topic obtained from the aggregated references on Facebook can be classified according to the following percentage breakdown: 51% are classified as “like” reactions, 27% as “haha” reactions, 9% as “sad” reactions, 7% as “love” reactions, 5% as “wow” reactions, and 2% as “angry” reactions.
‘PhilHealth Medusa’ Receives ‘Haha’ Reax from Netizens
The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) is currently grappling with a serious issue concerning the Medusa Hacking group’s demand for a significant sum of money to prevent their malicious plan of exposing the confidential data of the social insurance system. The hackers are demanding $300,000 or approximately P17 million from the government and have issued a threat to publicly divulge private data if the payment is not made. Consequently, Capstone-Intel Corporation has undertaken a study to analyze the public discourse surrounding the matter. Capstone-Intel is a high-impact research company that uses innovative research technologies, tools, and methods to convert data and information into breakthrough insights and actionable intelligence outputs. It is committed to helping its clients solve problems, find solutions, grow markets and constituencies, build reputations, navigate risks, manage crises, and be the country’s leading private research and intelligence agency. Background The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) recently experienced a breach in its database due to the Medusa ransomware. Hackers have demanded an exorbitant amount of $300,000 (approximately ₱17 million) from the government in exchange for the stolen data from the agency’s database, based on the report of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT). In light of the security breach caused by the Medusa ransomware, PhilHealth has temporarily shifted to manual operations since September 22nd, with the purpose of ensuring the safeguarding and protection of sensitive data. The DICT previously stated that the Medusa ransomware assaults began in 2019. Typically, international criminal organizations gain illicit access to websites, extract sensitive digital information, and subsequently encrypt said data. In order for the said data to be decrypted and rendered useful once again, these criminal factions demand payment in the form of a ransom from the owners of the compromised device or devices. There are only a few days left until the end of the ultimatum given by the Medusa hacking group to PhilHealth (Philippine Health Insurance Corporation). The group has demanded a ransom of $300,000 or approximately P17 million from the government and has threatened to publicly release private data if the payment is not made. Considering these serious developments, Capstone-Intel Corporation has initiated a study to analyze public discourse surrounding the issue. Capstone-Intel is a high-impact research company that uses innovative research technologies, tools, and methods to convert data and information into breakthrough insights and actionable intelligence outputs. It is committed to helping its clients solve problems, find solutions, grow markets and constituencies, build reputations, navigate risks, manage crises, and be the country’s leading private research and intelligence agency. Methodology From July 27 to September 27, 2023, Capstone-Intel utilized its social listening tools to scan publicly available Facebook pages for posts mentioning “Philhealth Medusa.” In this study, there were no specific demographics or personal data that were tracked. The tool itself was able to scan 144 posts with a consolidated 1,336 comments, 1,774 shares, a reaction count of 3,822 total, and an engagement score that reached 2,289.80. Reaction distribution The tool used was able to scan 144 Facebook posts with a consolidated reaction count of 3,822 total, an engagement score that reached 2,289.80, with 1,774 shares, and 1,336 comments. The keyword, “PhilHealth Medusa” garnered 51% Likes, 27% Hahas, 9% Sad, 7% Loves, 5% Wows, and 2% Angry. Top posts Meanwhile, based on the study, the present topic concerns the performance of various Facebook pages belonging to news agencies and influencers. According to Capstone-Intel analysis, GMA News obtained the highest engagement score of 528.4, followed by the Philippine Star with 315.9, and Rappler with 145.4. The GMA News page has documented a range of reactions for its article, “PhilHealth hit by Medusa ransomware, aims for site restoration by Monday,” including 40% Haha, 38% Like, 16% Sad, 3% Wow, 2% Angry, 1% Loves, and 396 shares. Similarly, the Philippine Star has recorded a variety of reactions to its news, “PhilHealth hackers demand $300,000 – DICT,” totaling 52% Haha, 17% Likes, 15% Wow, 14% Sad, 2 Angry, 1% Love, and 275 shares. Rappler has also received public’s reactions from its news report, “PhilHealth hit by ransomware – report,” with 28 Likes, 20 Haha, 12 Sad, 10 Wows, 2 Angry, 0 Love, and 138 shares.
