100 Belgian and Dutch dental practices closed due to hacker attack

A hacker attack forced over 100 Belgian and Dutch dental practices to close shop.

The practices are part of Colosseum Dental Benelux, a parent company with over 130 branches.

Colosseum Dental Benelux was recently hit by a cyberattack. The Dutch Data Protection Authority (AP) was informed. Some of the dental practices affected have been closed since Thursday 4 August.

The website of Colosseum Dental Benelux is still offline.

Colosseum Dental Benelux told Dutch media that there’s been a “cyber incident”, but did not detail the malware used. The organization expects its practices to reopen this week. Anonymous sources told Dutch media that employees can’t access the patient information of customers.

Colosseum Dental Benelux’s response confirms the seriousness of the incident. Data breaches only have to be reported when the privacy of partners, employees or customers is at stake. Colosseum Dental Benelux emphasised that a report was made.

In the same time, Formosa Television in Taiwan announced an intensive series of cyberattacks while China’s People’s Liberation Army conducted live-fire military exercises.