Australia accused Russian hackers of a cyber attack on a health insurance company. The police want to turn on Interpol.
Russian hackers are said to be responsible for a cyber attack on a major Australian health insurance company. “We believe the perpetrators of the crime are in Russia,” said Australian police spokesman Reece Kershaw. Evidence pointed to cybercriminals “who are also likely behind other major attacks around the world,” he said.
Hackers began posting sensitive data from clients of Australian health insurance company Medibank on Wednesday. According to Medibank, they put the data of all 9.7 million policyholders on the dark web. In addition to names, dates of birth, addresses and passport numbers, this also included information on the medical findings and treatment of those affected.
The hackers had previously attempted to blackmail the insurance company with the stolen data. Medibank said it refused to pay the $ 9.7 million ransom.
The identity of the hackers should be known
According to the assumptions of the Australian police, the hackers were also likely to have been supported by people living outside Russia. The police know the identities of the hackers but will not name them, Kershaw said.
The Australian police now want to attack Interpol and Russia. “We will hold talks with Russian investigative authorities about these people,” Kershaw said.
According to cybersecurity experts, the infamous Russian hacker group Revil, which has also been accused of attacks on US cyber company Kaseya, Brazilian meat company JBS and pop star Lady Gaga, may be behind the attack on Medibank.
Medibank is Australia’s largest private health insurer with approximately 9.7 million customers. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was also hit by the data theft.
