Yesterday Medibank confirmed that the hacker who accessed their systems had access to 9.7 million customers details, including health data for half a million people and today a group claiming to have the data has threatened to release it in 24 hours.
Using a forum on the Dark Web viewed by EFTM, the post begins by quoting Confucius, saying “A man who has committed a mistake and doesn’t correct it is committing another mistake”.
Following that the post says “Data will be publish in 24 hours”.
The forum in question was previously the home of a large data ransom group called “REVil”. The group was very active in 2021, until Russian Authorities cracked down and made several arrest forcing the group into silence.
In the last hour the alleged hackers have posted an additional update, which is a link to a satirical video made by Aussie Mark Humphries for the ABC
That video can be seen here:
Perhaps thanks to the Russia and Ukraine war and a lack of co-operation between Russia and the West the group now appears to have come back, making this data reveal threat.
It’s unknown if the strategy here is to force Medibank bank into negotiations on a ransom, or if it’s a precursor to them selling the data to other criminals.
It could also be a completely false claim designed entirely to put a “relaunched” Revil back into the spotlight.
Time will tell. If it’s real, we expect to see some sample data released in the coming day, this will validate the hacker in the same way it was done with Optus customers last month when records were released online.
The biggest risk to customers is ransom threats directly to those individuals. All Medibank and AHM customers should be on high alert for scams and sms spam, including ransom demands to prevent health data being released. Any payment to a hacker is likely to be followed by just more demands and no guarantee the data won’t be exposed.
Medibank has advised customers they have expanded their response, offering:
The company has already offered:
Trev is a Technology Commentator, Dad, Speaker and Rev Head.
He produces and hosts two popular podcasts, EFTM and Two Blokes Talking Tech. He also appears on over 50 radio stations across Australia weekly, and is the resident Tech Expert on Channel 9’s Today Show each day and appears regularly on A Current Affair.
Father of three, he is often found down in his Man Cave.
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