Berlin’s Charité has become the victim of a hacker attack. As the university hospital announced on Friday, personal contact data was stolen during the unauthorised intrusion into its servers, according to the Berliner Morgenpost. Those affected are staff, students and external contacts who got in touch via the hospital’s web contact form – for example to arrange an appointment.
In a Charité statement quoted by the Berliner Morgenpost, the hospital said: “During the investigation of the incident it was established that personal contact data of staff and students, as well as of external contacts, had been stolen.” The hospital regretted the incident. According to Charité, all those affected are to be informed as quickly as possible.
Patient care had not been affected by the attack, the hospital stressed. A spokesperson told the Berliner Morgenpost: “The access route was identified and closed promptly.” The cause had been analysed and protective measures strengthened. Charité is also in close contact with the authorities and has initiated the necessary measures to clarify the incident.
According to the hospital, there is no connection with the worldwide security vulnerability that prompted Charité to take its website offline as a precaution last week. This is reported consistently by tagesschau.de and the Berliner Morgenpost.
