Nov. 11 () –
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) reported on Friday that Russian hackers are behind a massive cyberattack on Australia’s largest health insurer, Medibank.
Data stolen — from some 9.7 million customers — from the health insurance company began appearing on the web on Wednesday after Medibank refused to pay the hackers a ransom.
The police agent, Reece Kershaw, has indicated that the indications they handle is that those responsible are located in Russia. “Our intelligence points to a group of loosely affiliated cybercriminals who are likely responsible for significant past breaches in countries around the world,” Kershaw said.
The AFP is investigating what happened together with its national intelligence agencies and also with some international ones, such as Interpol.
“The AFP and our partners are not going to give up on bringing those responsible to justice,” Kershaw said, noting that Australian authorities will hold “discussions with Russian law enforcement about these individuals.”
“To the criminals: we know who they are,” he said in a statement, before highlighting Canberra’s successes in bringing foreign criminals to justice.
The agent added that this cyberattack “is unacceptable” and “deserves a response that matches the malicious and far-reaching consequences that this crime is causing.”
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has declared that he was “disgusted” by the hack: “We know where they come from, we know who is responsible and we say they must be held accountable.”
