Cosmetic Surgery Clinic's Photos Released in Cyber Blackmail Attack

A group of hackers released more than 25,000 photos and sensitive patient data from a Lithuanian cosmetic surgery clinic, following a blackmail scheme in which attackers demanded nearly $800,000 in payment, according to a report in The Guardian.

After the blackmail attempt with the clinic Grozio Chirurgija failed earlier this year, the attackers, who go by the name "Tsar Team," attempted to extort money from individual patients who resided in more than 60 different countries across the globe, according to the report.

The hackers demanded patients pay anywhere from $65 to $2,600, depending on the type of sensitive information that was poised to be released. That information included photos, some of them nude, national insurance numbers, scans of their passports and other information, The Guardian noted. It is not clear whether any of those patients paid the ransom.

Failing to get the clinic to pay 300 bitcoins ($772,178 USD) for its database contents, the attackers have since lowered the price to 50 bitcoins or ($120,750 USD) for the database. (It is unclear if they unsuccessfully attempted to ransom the data at this lower price before releasing it or if they still have more unreleased data.) The clinic is advising its patients not to download any material from the attackers, nor respond to their inquiries.

Read more about the attack here.