Medical information including treatment details, consultation notes, referral letters and pathology or diagnostic results is believed to have been stolen, alongside Medicare numbers, private health insurance details, names, dates of birth, addresses and more.<\/p>\n
Patients and stakeholders affected by the breach have been contacted, but a Partnered Health<\/a> spokesperson told Guardian Australia it was not in its patients\u2019 interests to publicly discuss the number of people affected.<\/p>\n The company said it had obtained an interim injunction from the New South Wales supreme court ordering the accessed data not be used or published.<\/p>\n While this could prevent the dataset from being released on a regular website, it was unlikely to stop it from being sold on the hidden market and dark web, the University of Melbourne information systems senior lecturer Dr Suelette Dreyfus said.<\/p>\n Personal medical information is particularly valuable, according to Dreyfus, with reports of it selling<\/a> for up to US$250 per record, compared with personal information like name and address which sell for a few cents each.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can match it with information in other datasets, and this means the profile you\u2019re able to build of someone is much more detailed and potentially much more dangerous to privacy,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email <\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIt could really disrupt a person\u2019s life if they had a medical condition like a long-term disease \u2013 the risk is pretty substantial.\u201d<\/p>\n It is also possible someone may have placed an order with the attackers to target a specific company or person, she said.<\/p>\n In 2018, the details of 1.5 million Singaporean patients were stolen<\/a>, with unidentified state actors specifically targeting the country\u2019s prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong.<\/p>\n Unlike financial data breaches, where victims can mitigate potential damage by changing passwords and credit cards, those who lose their medical records have less recourse.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s pretty hard to change your medical history once it\u2019s bolted out the door due to a cyber-attack,\u201d Dreyfus said.<\/p>\n She urged Australians to stay vigilant about any unusual activity in their accounts, ensure their devices have the latest security updates, and change their passwords regularly.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a>Free newsletter | When needed<\/p>\n Sign up to Breaking News Australia<\/p>\n Get the most important news as it breaks<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Governments and institutions should also increase practical cybersecurity training, build more public awareness and support research to prevent attacks, she said.<\/p>\n This is not the first time Australians have had their data put at risk in a cyber-incident.<\/p>\n In 2022, the personal details of 9.7 million current and former Medibank customers were published on the dark web<\/a> after the company refused to pay a hacker group.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2998.jpg\")
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