Data Breach at Australian Hospital Leads to Outrage
The federal government agreed with the decision of Medibank not to pay the ransom.
The thieves began making public the stolen customer information on Wednesday, and on Thursday, they made even more of it available to the public.
The Australian Federal Police are making more efforts to find the people who are to blame for the massive data breach.
There have been rumors that the hackers who broke into the Medibank database put information on the dark web about their customers’ abortions and other medical procedures in which they participated.
It was also said that the ransomware group asked the healthcare provider to pay a ransom of $1 USD ($1.60 USD) on behalf of each customer.
According to what was written in the post, the Abortions.csv file was “added as a new file.”
“If members of the general public approach us with a demand for a ransom, we inform them that it will cost 10 million United States dollars, which is equivalent to approximately 15.5 million Australian dollars.” “We are able to provide a discount of 9.7 million (A$15 million) at a rate of 1 dollar (A$1.60) per client.”
It was said that the spreadsheet with information on 303 patients had billing codes for a number of ways to end a pregnancy, such as miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, and non-viable pregnancy.
Clare O’Neil, who is in charge of cyber security, stated that the leak was “morally wrong” during question time on Thursday.
“I want to say, especially to the women whose private health information was stolen overnight, that this should not have happened, and I know that this is a difficult time,” she said. “As the minister for cybersecurity and, more importantly, as a woman, I want to say that this should not have happened, and I know that this is a difficult time.”
“It is essential for you to be aware that your government and parliament are looking out for your best interests.”
“The actions that have been taken here are unethical and illegal, and you have every right to anticipate that the confidentiality of your medical records will be maintained.”
Ms. O’Neil said that the government was working with the Australian Federal Police, the Australian Signals Directorate, and Medibank to help those who were hurt by the attack and find the people who did it.
I confronted the scumbags who were responsible for this attack and told them, “I want you to know that the smartest and toughest people in this country are coming after you.”
Aussie Medibank Customers’ Data Leaked in Massive Breach
At approximately 2:00 a.m. on Wednesday, the group was divided into those who were on the “good list” and those who were on the “naughty list.”
Health claims data, Medicare numbers for Medibank’s AHM customers, and passport numbers for international student customers were included in the first batch of data, along with names, ages, addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers.
On Wednesday, Medibank issued a statement confirming that the files were, in fact, part of the information that the criminal had obtained in the past.
As Medibank had warned before, it looks like more customer information was posted on the dark web in the early hours of Thursday morning.
This week, the largest private health insurer in Australia announced that it had reached an agreement to keep the data confidential in exchange for being relieved of the obligation to do so.
Angelene Falk, the Australian Information Commissioner and Privacy Commissioner, has said that people whose private medical records were taken and then posted on the dark web will get the help they need.
On Thursday, she appeared on the Today Show at Nine and told the hosts that “all of these things are disgusting” and that the trend of putting Australians’ private medical records on the “deep web” raises a lot of ethical questions.
Right now, we have to put all of our attention into assisting the individuals who have been directly impacted.
A question was posed to the federal minister, Annika Wells, about what individuals should do if they were contacted by someone who claimed to possess the information in question.
She said that the government’s advice was still to not pay the ransom and instead to tell the authorities what was going on.
On Thursday, she discussed the situation with Nine Network and suggested that you do not pay the ransom.
“You have the impression that this is correct, but what we are getting at is that it is possible that this is not the case.” “There are a lot of lowlifes in the world, and many of them will try to take advantage of this situation.”
James Paterson: “Worstcase Scenario” for Medibank Hack
James Paterson, a spokesman for the opposition on cyber security issues, says that the customers of Medibank who were affected will be very upset.
He shared his thoughts on the matter with ABC Radio, stating, “Unfortunately, this is the worst-case scenario.” In addition to this, he emphasized how essential it is for businesses to take the risk of hacking seriously.
If they still don’t take it seriously after Optus and Medibank, they need to have their mental health evaluated as soon as possible.
The Australian Federal Police are making more efforts to find the people who are to blame for the massive data breach.
Initially, the purpose of Operation Guardian was to investigate the recent breach that occurred at Optus. Now, it has been decided to also look into the theft of information from Medibank.
According to Justine Gough, Assistant Commissioner of the AFP Cyber Command, “Of course we are worried.” “That is why we have Operation Guardian and work with state and territory police to find people who are at risk of identity fraud,” the spokesperson said.
Calling triple zero (000) as soon as possible in an emergency is highly recommended.
An unidentified group gained access to Medibank’s system several weeks ago, and the company has now confirmed that nearly half a million individuals’ personal information and health claim records were taken.
