The personal data of 515,000 "highly vulnerable" groups of people were found compromised this week by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as they faced the week with a threatening breach of their systems.
The organization said it discovered an alarming cybersecurity attack this week that targeted servers hosting the information of people who have been separated from their families due to conflict, migration, and disasters, as well as missing people, their families, and people in detention, in a statement released.
Unfortunately, the Red Cross has been forced to shut down IT systems due to the vulnerability.
The Red Cross Cyberattack
The data that was breached collectively includes at least 60 Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies around the world that contributed data, according to ZDNet.
The ICRC's most compelling problem in the aftermath of this incident is the potential risks that this poses to people who the Red Cross and Red Crescent Network aims to protect and help, as well as their families with particularly confidential information being released publicly.
Director-general of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Robert Mardini stated that the misery and suffering of families who have lost family members are exacerbated by the cybersecurity attacks on their personal data.
This cyberattack puts vulnerable people at risk, including those who are already in need of humanitarian assistance.
He then added that everyone in the organization is outraged and perplexed that this humanitarian information would be targeted and compromised.
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Red Cross Cybersecurity Resolution
Red Cross spokesperson Elizabeth Shaw told CNN in an email that as a resolution to this attack, the first step the organization will do is to inform the families and individuals whose personal data were compromised by the attack.
They stated that they will work together with most concerned ICRC delegations and Red Cross and Red Crescent societies on the ground on what measures are being taken to protect their data and the risks they may possibly face.
Furthermore, the intrusion did not involve ransomware, according to Shaw, and the Red Cross is working with very skilled cybersecurity organizations to respond to the breach.
The event "looks to be the greatest and most sensitive breach in the history of ICRC and, arguably, considering the sensitivity, of all humanitarian organizations to date," according to Lukasz Olejnik, a former cyber warfare consultant at Red Cross headquarters in Geneva, via CNN.
According to Olejnik, the Red Cross could consider asking nations that are parties to the Geneva Conventions for assistance in recovering from the hack.
Who Was Behind The Attacks
Relief Web reported that the attack targeted a third-party company in Switzerland with whom the ICRC has a data-storage agreement.
Unfortunately, the ICRC has no initial indicators as to who was behind the cyber-attack.
As of writing, the compromised data that has been breached still has no evidence of being shared with the public.
The institution clarified again that they do not know the actors behind this attack. Furthermore, the institution pleads not to share, leak, or sell the data that has been stolen.
