The personal and healthcare records of 16 million Brazilian COVID-19 patients, including government representatives, exposed online.
The personal and healthcare records of 16 million Brazilian COVID-19 patients, including government representatives, exposed online.
The leak came to limelight after a GitHub user noticed the spreadsheet containing the passwords on the personal GitHub account of an employee working with Albert Einstein Hospital in the city of Sao Paulo.
The spreadsheet included the login credentials for systems including E-SUS-VE and Sivep-Gripe, two government databases used to store information on COVID-19 patients.
E-SUS-VE is used for recording COVID-19 patients with mild symptoms, while Sivep-Gripe is used to keep track of hospitalized cases.
The exposed databases contained sensitive information such as patient names, addresses, ID information, but also healthcare records such as medical history and medication regimes.
The GitHub user shared his discovery with the Brazilian newspaper Estado, which in turn notified the Brazilian Ministry of Health and hospital.
Estadao reporters said that among those affected by the leak are high profile figures like the country's president Jair Bolsonaro, seven government ministers, and the governors of 17 Brazilian states.
The spreadsheet was finally removed from GitHub while government officials changed passwords and the access keys to re-secure their systems.
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