According to recent reports, Australia’s largest health insurer claimed that it had been a victim of a cyber-attack which led to the theft of personal data of about 4 million customers. Medibank said “significant amounts of health claims data” had also been accessed in the breach, which was reported to police a week ago when trade in the company’s shares was halted. Read the entire article to learn more about the news piece.
About the cyber attack
“Our investigation has now established that this criminal has accessed all our private health insurance customers’ personal data and significant amounts of their health claims data,” Medibank chief executive David Koczkar said in a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange.
“As the Optus, Medibank, and MyDeal cyberattacks have recently highlighted, data breaches have the potential to cause serious financial and emotional harm to Australians, and this is unacceptable,” Dreyfus told Parliament.
“Governments, businesses, and other organizations have an obligation to protect Australians’ personal data, not to treat it as a commercial asset,” Dreyfus added.
This happens after the government comes up with strict penalties for companies that fail to protect their customer’s privacy. Along with that, the government has also become very strict with companies that collect unnecessary customer data to make money by using that information and that information is in no way related to their line of work. The government has become extremely strict about these issues and to prove that the government has changed the penalty for violation of the privacy act from $ 1.4 million to $ 32 million.
About Medibank
For people who know nothing about Medibank and its operations, this article will guide and give you a brief about the company. It is a private health insurance company and it also health services in Australia. It is one of the largest private insurers in the country and has made a name for itself. The aim of the company is to help people lead better lives by helping them be healthy. The company wants to make healthcare more accessible for the people of Australia so that all of them can have a chance at leading happy and healthy life. The company is working really hard in order to provide the best health facilities for the citizens of Australia by teaming up with doctors and different hospitals. It is also making sure that the healthcare system of the country is well-equipped to cater to people belonging to all generations.