Air medical transport companies are well trusted throughout the United Kingdom, mainly owing to the fact that these are charities and mostly supported by local communities. It is quite normal for the local citizens to receive requests for funding from time to time. Most of the time, such requests are met with positive responses and that is the reason why such initiatives have been a huge success in the region. The emergence of the internet has, of course, made fund raising much easier as people can be reached more effectively and easily; however, there are a few down sides to this, as one of London’s most popular air medical transport organization recently found out.
Cyber Attack on Air Medical Transport Company’s Email System
The breach occurred late in the morning on the 17th of August according to the air medical transport company. It is believed to have taken place when one of its unsuspecting employees opened, what seemed to be, a routine email. However, the virus immediately entered the email system of the organization and began targeting the entire contact list. Health care and charitable organizations are routinely targeted by cyber thieves as these organizations are generally trusted by people. The emails are used to get access to sensitive financial details of individuals and later exploited.
No Threat if Infected Emails are Not Opened by the Recipients
The spokesperson of the air medical transport company revealed that the emails pose no threat if they are not opened. They also gave out the exact subject line of the email so that people do not open them and can simply delete them. The message was circulated on social media. People were also asked to contact the organization in case they suspected that something was amiss in the emails they receive from the air medical transport company. The charitable organization has, so far, rescued more than 23,000 people since its inception in the year 2000.
