Medibank becomes latest target of cyber attack in Australia

HEALTH insurer Medibank Private detected a potential cyber attack on its network, adding to the growing list of Australian companies falling victim to cybercrime.

The company has already enlisted the help of cybersecurity firms after detecting unusual activity on its network, it said in a statement on Thursday (Oct 13). Medibank says there’s no evidence that any sensitive data was accessed in the incident, which occurred Wednesday.

Cyber attacks are becoming increasingly common in Australia, with last month’s major hack of mobile phone provider Optus spurring national outcry. Optus revealed a hacker had accessed the records of almost 10 million current and former customers.

The phone company, which is owned by Singapore Telecommunications, continues to face complaints that it failed to protect personal information and destroy data it no longer needed.

Vicki Brady, chief executive officer of rival telecom provider Telstra, called for a review of the country’s data retention laws in the hack’s aftermath. Telstra is blocking “unprecedented levels of malicious activity” against customers, including rogue calls and text messages, Brady said earlier this week.

On Monday, Singtel disclosed a second Australian business it owns, technology consultancy Dialog, had also suffered a recent cyberattack that potentially exposed client and customer data. Telstra was also recently exposed to a third-party data breach that accessed information about employees from 2017 earlier this month. BLOOMBERG