The large Australian Medibank insurance group recognized this week that cybercriminals had been able to access personal data of 9.7 million insured. The hackers asked for a ransom of US $ 10 million.
Le Monde with AFP
Australian police announced, Friday, November 11, that Russian computer hackers were behind the Medibank cyber attack. The large Australian insurance group recognized this week that hackers had access to personal data of 9.7 million insured, old and current.
“We believe that leaks officials are in Russia,” the Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw told journalists. “Our information shows a group of low-affiliated cybercriminals who are probably responsible for important previous violations around the world,” he said, adding that Australian police were going to ask for help from his Russian counterparts. >
After publishing a first “sample” of stolen data given Wednesday, IT pirates published a second Thursday on a Dark Net forum – which cannot be found using conventional browsers.
The first disclosed data seems to have been selected to cause significant damage, targeting people treated for drug addiction, sexually transmitted infection or termination of pregnancy.
“We know who you are “
Hackers asked a ransom of US $ 10 million on Thursday (9.7 million euros). The insurer has so far refused to pay.
m. Kershaw said he knew the names of the pirates but refused to disclose them. Cybersecurity analysts suggested that the attack presented certain characteristics associated with a group of Russian pirates called Revil, which has notably targeted the large Brazilian JBS meat group and the pop lady Gaga star. The group would have been dismantled by the Russian authorities at the beginning of the year, after having noted a ransom of $ 11 million (10.7 million euros) at JBS.
m. Kershaw assured that the Australian police were taking “secret measures” to translate the pirates to court. “We know who you are,” he said for criminals. “Australian federal police have in the past marked a few points when it comes to bringing foreign offenders to Australia to bring them to court,” said the Australian Federal Police Commissioner.
The Australian Minister of the Interior, Clare O’Neil, said Thursday evening that the “most intelligent and solid” people in the country tracked up the hackers. M me o’neil called these computer hackers as “shabby criminals”.
Within the first disclosed data, the victims were distributed in two lists of “good” and “villains”. Several people in the “Vilains” list were associated with digital codes connecting them to HIV contamination or addiction to drugs or alcohol. A file included for example the mention “P_DIAG: F122”. “F122” is the “cannabis dependence” code according to the International Classification of Diseases published by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Names, passport numbers, birth dates and addresses were also among these data.