Up to 12.9 million Australians have had their personal and health information stolen and uploaded to the dark web by a “malicious external actor” after e-prescription provider MediSecure was hacked.
The e-prescription company first became aware of a breach on April 13 when suspected ransomware was discovered on a database server containing personal and health information, before publicly confirming the cyberattack in May.
MediSecure revealed on Thursday that around 12.9 million Australians who used the company’s prescription delivery service between March 2019 and November 2023 were affected after their data was stolen by a malicious third-party actor.
The company is reviewing a dataset of personal information that has been exposed on the dark web to identify and notify those affected.
The federal government was not aware of the release of the full data set, national cybersecurity coordinator Lt. Gen. Michelle McGuinness told X.
“No one should be seeking or accessing sensitive or personal information stolen from the dark web,” Lt. McGinness said Thursday.
‘This activity only feeds the business model of cybercriminals and may constitute a criminal offence.
Up to 12.9 million Australians have had their personal and health information stolen and uploaded to the dark web by a “malicious external actor” after e-prescription provider MediSecure was hacked (file image)
“I understand that many Australians will be concerned about the scale of this data breach. I encourage everyone, whether they have been affected by this incident or not, to be vigilant so as not to fall victim to scams.”
MediSecure was one of two e-prescription delivery services until the end of 2023; the Australian government awarded the service exclusively to another company, Fred IT Group’s eRx Script Exchange.
The company appointed liquidators and went into administration in June and is no longer part of Australia’s digital health network.
The national prescription delivery service, eRx, is not affected by this cyber incident, the government confirmed.
“Consumers can continue to access medicines safely and health care providers can continue to prescribe and dispense them as usual,” he said.
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