Breach report
Abbott confirms vishing attack on legacy Exact Sciences cancer-diagnostics systems
AI-generated illustration by CyberShitty. Not a photograph or a document from the organisations named.
Abbott says a phone-based attack reached a limited number of legacy Exact Sciences systems and some files held personal health data. ShinyHunters claimed the theft and later published data.
What happened
On 16 July 2026, Abbott said it was investigating unauthorised access to a limited number of internal systems in its Cancer Diagnostics business, which runs on legacy Exact Sciences systems separate from the rest of Abbott. Exact Sciences, now owned by Abbott, makes the Cologuard home screening test. The ShinyHunters extortion group listed Abbott on its leak site and threatened to publish data. In an update on 5 August, Abbott said it was a vishing attack (voice phishing, where a caller talks an employee into handing over access), not an encryption malware event.
Confirmed vs. claimed
Confirmed by Abbott: unauthorised access, the vishing entry point, and that some affected files contain personal or personal health information. Abbott says operations, products and patient services were not affected and it will notify people where required.
Claimed: ShinyHunters told BleepingComputer it compromised a Microsoft Entra single sign-on account in mid-June and took 30 million rows of customer data, including about one million Social Security numbers. Abbott has not confirmed these figures. Have I Been Pwned (HIBP) says the group later published the data, which held 10.9 million unique email addresses with names, addresses, phone numbers and health records. A separate claim about Abbott's LabCentral portal is disputed: Abbott says that portal holds only non-sensitive product documents.
Who is affected
Customers, patients and healthcare providers in the Exact Sciences dataset, mostly in the US. Abbott had not published a count or started notifications as of its 5 August update.
What to do
- Check your email address on Have I Been Pwned; this breach is flagged as sensitive, so you must verify your address to see the result.
- Expect calls or emails that cite a cancer screening test; do not share details or pay anyone who contacts you out of the blue.
- Watch for a formal notice from Abbott or Exact Sciences.
- See our guides on ShinyHunters extortion emails and what to do after a data breach notice.
Sources
- Abbott — Statement on cyber incident in Cancer Diagnostics business (16 Jul, updated 5 Aug 2026) Primary
- BleepingComputer — Abbott probes two cyber incidents amid extortion claims (Jul 2026) Secondary
- HIPAA Journal — Abbott investigating cyberattack claims from two threat actors (20 Jul 2026) Secondary
- Have I Been Pwned — Exact Sciences data breach (2026) Secondary
More breaches in United States
- IDScan.net — 01 Sep 2026
- Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) — 27 Aug 2026
- Boston Scientific — 26 Aug 2026
- Aesto Health — 14 Aug 2026
- DentaQuest — 17 Jul 2026