8,257,378 Patient Records and 35.5 Million prescription records are hacked.  Complete Story Here

State and federal authorities are investigating apossible extortion demand that seeks $10 million for the safe return ofmore than 8 million patient records and 35 million prescription recordsthat allegedly were hacked last week from the Virginia Department ofHealth Professions computers.

An extortion note posted onWikiLeaks, a Web site that publishes anonymous submissions and leaks ofsensitive government and corporate information, reads:

"ATTENTIONVIRGINIA I have your [stuff]! In *my* possession, right now, are8,257,378 patient records and a total of 35,548,087 prescriptions.Also, I made an encrypted backup and deleted the original.Unfortunately for Virginia, their backups seem to have gone missing,too. Uhoh :("

The note demands $10 millionwithin seven days, but it does not say from what date the count began.Hackers apparently infiltrated the health professions' computers lastThursday.

M.A. Myers, a spokesman for the Richmondoffice of the FBI, confirmed late today that an investigation has begunbut declined to provide specifics. He said the FBI received a referralfrom the Virginia Information Technologies Agency.

Theransom-note writer said if the money isn't paid in seven days, "I'll goahead and put this baby out on the market and accept the highest bid."

Ifthe prescription data can't be sold, the writer says, then "at the veryleast I can find a buyer for the personal data" -- which the note saysincludes names, ages, Social Security numbers and driver's licensenumbers.