The hackers responsible for an attack on Medibank released this Friday, for the third consecutive day, private medical data, this time from clients of the Australian insurer with diseases linked to alcohol consumption.
The group, which goes by the name “Extortion Gang”, published private clinical data about the medical treatment provided to more than 700 Medibank clients on the dark web.
In the first two days, the group had exposed clinical data from patients with HIV, drug addicts or those who had abortions, along with identity, passport numbers, dates of birth, addresses and other medical information.
On Thursday, the ‘Extortion Gang’ had warned that it would continue to publish private medical information until it received a ransom of 9.7 million dollars (9.6 million euros), one dollar (0.99 euro cents) for the record stolen from each of the Medibank records. 9.7 million current and former customers.
Medibank CEO David Koczkar condemned the release of the information. “The relentless nature of this tactic used by criminals is designed to cause distress and harm,” Koczkar said in a statement.
“These are real people behind this data and the misuse of the data is deplorable and could deter them from seeking medical attention,” Koczkar added, assuring that Medibank was reaching out and offering support to affected customers.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who is among the Medibank clients whose personal records were stolen, urged the media and the general public not to divulge the stolen data, for example on social media.
“We have to discourage this type of criminal and disgusting behavior which is reprehensible” and which is “causing a lot of suffering in the community,” Albanese told Australian Broadcasting Corp television.
The head of government promised that the Australian Federal Police will identify, during the day, those responsible for the computer attack.
Initially, the hackers allegedly threatened to expose celebrity clients’ diagnoses and treatments unless a ransom of an undisclosed amount was paid.
For its part, Medibank considered that there was a “limited possibility” that the rescue would prevent the publication of the data.
Medibank has updated its estimate of the number of people affected by the cyberattack from four million two weeks ago to 9.7 million this week.
Source: TSF
