An Australian health information provider has fallen victim to a “large scale” data breach, sparking a national approach from the federal government.
The National Cyber Security Coordinator said it was informed by the company of the incident yesterday, but did not name the company that fell victim to the ransomware.
“Yesterday afternoon I was advised by a commercial health information organisation that it was the victim of a large-scale ransomware data breach incident,” Cyber Security Coordinator Lieutenant-General Michelle McGuinness said in a statement.
“I am working with agencies across the Australian government, states and territories to coordinate a whole-of-government response to this incident.
“The Cyber Security Centre is aware of the incident and the Australian Federal Police (are) investigating.”
Federal Cyber Security Minister Clare O’Neil said the government is responding to the data breach.
“I have been briefed on this incident in recent days and the government convened a National Coordination Mechanism regarding this matter today,” she said this afternoon.
“Michelle McGuinness is leading work across the Australian government to support the company in managing this large-scale ransomware incident.
“Updates will be provided in due course. Speculation at this stage risks undermining significant work underway to support the company’s response.”
McGuinness said the investigation was still in its early stages, and more updates will be provided soon.
“We are in the very preliminary stages of our response and there is limited detail to share at this stage,” she said.
“But I will continue to provide updates as we progress while working closely with the affected commercial organisation to address the impacts caused by the incident.”
