Online prescription service MediSecure has shut down its website and confirmed "the personal and health information of individuals" has been affected, after a large-scale ransomware attack targeted the company. National Cyber Security Coordinator Lt Gen Michelle McGuinness says initial investigations suggest MediSecure ransomware attack is an isolated incident and those impacted will be notified.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00 It is a significant data breach. At this stage, I know that this can be concerning for Australians.
00:06 We've convened a number of stakeholders, both using the National Coordination Mechanism
00:11 and other coordination mechanisms, to bring together all stakeholders in the health community
00:15 across the government, that is state and territories as well as federal, and we're monitoring closely.
00:21 If Australians are impacted, then they will be notified. We're working closely with MediSecure
00:26 to ensure that they are notified and that we are prepared and best postured to respond
00:32 and support anyone whose information has been breached.
00:35 We do know that it's a ransomware and we do not recommend that anyone pays ransom. That
00:39 just builds a cycle with criminals. It provides financing for further ransoms and there is
00:46 no guarantee that we get the data back or that the data isn't unsolved or shared anyway.
00:50 Right now, we don't need anyone to take any action. They'll be notified if their information
00:54 has been released. And the actions that we're taking across government through my office
00:59 is really to ensure that we can build our resilience and rapidly respond to reduce harm
01:04 and minimise risk.
01:05 This stage, we believe it's an isolated incident and that no other entities are impacted, but
01:09 there are things that every Australian can do, whether you're an individual or a corporate
01:14 entity. They are on our Act Now, Stay Secure campaign or cyber.gov.au, really updating
01:20 your software, applying multi-factor authentication and ensuring you have unique, complex passphrases
01:26 on all of your accounts. These are things that will lift our cyber security posture
01:31 as a nation and make us more secure. And the other side of that is ensuring that we are
01:35 resilient and that when issues like this happen, we convene across government to ensure that
01:39 we are rapidly ready to respond, including organisations that support recredentialing
01:44 Australians.
01:44 [BLANK_AUDIO]