Saxony emergency pager alerts intercepted and posted online for years, exposing patient names, addresses and conditions

heise online, citing Der Spiegel, reports that emergency alerts sent to the mobile pagers of fire, ambulance and civil-protection services in Saxony, Germany, have apparently been intercepted and posted on a social network for years, with hundreds arriving daily, mainly affecting the Leipzig area and the Zwickau, Vogtland and Erzgebirge districts ^[1]. The pagers use the POCSAG protocol, which has no built-in encryption; Saxony's networks use the outdated 1990 IDEA cipher, and according to the informant the required keys are available in online forums; the informant alerted the state interior ministry and LKA at the end of October, and Spiegel reports the LKA is investigating ^[1]. Ambulance and fire services still dispatching via POCSAG pagers can follow the Südwestsachsen rescue association, which now sends call-out information without patient names or house numbers ^[1].

Industries mainly affected: Healthcare, Government

Ambulance and fire services still dispatching via POCSAG pagers can follow the Südwestsachsen rescue association, which now sends call-out information without patient names or house numbers ^[1]