Status: 10/20/2022 11:40 a.m
About one in six people in Australia is insured with the health insurance company Medibank. Hackers have now stolen masses of data there. It is the second major data leak in Australia in a month.
In Australia, hackers are blackmailing one of the largest private health insurance companies. As confirmed by Medibank, 200 gigabytes of patient data were stolen. The perpetrator or perpetrators had delivered a sample of 100 files. In addition to information such as names and addresses, this also included diagnoses, treatment locations and therapies. According to Medibank, the number of people affected could increase.
Well-known personalities should be affected
A stranger has threatened to resell or publish stolen data from 1,000 Australian celebrities affected, according to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald. Because of the hacker attack, trading in Medibank shares was suspended. The Australian Federal Police have launched an investigation.
Second major hacking attack within a month
Last month, a hacker attack on the Australian telecommunications group Optus became known. In the process, the personal data of almost ten million Australians, roughly a third of the population, was stolen. The hacking of Australia’s second largest mobile operator was one of the largest cyberattacks in the country’s history.
Australian government speaks of “wake-up call”
Australia’s Home Secretary Clare O’Neil told ABC radio that Australia’s cybersecurity can no longer be taken for granted. Rather, the Optus and Medibank hacks are “a definite wake-up call for the country. This is the new world we live in. We’re going to be under constant cyberattack, basically from now on,” O’Neil added.