Plastic surgery clinic hit by hackers

A London-based plastic surgery clinic has been hit by hackers, potentially leaking sensitive patient data online.

The London Bridge Plastic Surgery which, despite the name, is based in Marylebone admitted it had been hit by an attack, but couldn't yet say what data had been leaked.

"We can confirm that the Clinic has been the victim of a cyber attack," the company said in a statement. "We took measures to block the attack immediately in order to protect patient information and we informed the Metropolitan Police who launched an investigation."

"Regrettably, following investigations by our IT experts and the police, we believe that our security was breached and that data has been stolen," the statement added. "We are still working to establish exactly what data has been compromised."

The clinic said it was "deeply saddened" that its security was breached, claiming it used "market leading technology" and updated systems daily.

A report on the Daily Beast identified the hackers as a group called The Dark Overlord, noting they often used extortion against their victims. The hackers claimed to have stolen terabytes of data and graphic photos of famous patients, including "royal families".

The clinic has swathes of famous patients, including Katie Price who posted on Instagram photos of her own surgery there last month, suggesting not everyone undergoing such work is necessarily embarrassed by it. However, the Daily Beast report suggested sensitive photos had been leaked and could be posted online.