Security News > 2022 > November > Medibank won’t pay the ransom for data stolen in breach
Australian health insurance provider Medibank has announced it won't be paying the ransom to the criminal(s) who stole data of 9.7 million of its current and former customers.
"Based on the extensive advice we have received from cybercrime experts we believe there is only a limited chance paying a ransom would ensure the return of our customers' data and prevent it from being published. In fact, paying could have the opposite effect and encourage the criminal to directly extort our customers, and there is a strong chance that paying puts more people in harm's way by making Australia a bigger target," the company said.
Name, date of birth, address, phone number and email address for around 5.1 million Medibank customers, around 2.8 million ahm customers and around 1.8 million international customers.
Health claims data - service provider name and location, where customers received certain medical services, and codes associated with diagnosis and procedures administered - for around 160,000 Medibank customers, around 300,000 ahm customers and around 20,000 international customers.
The attacker did not compromise credit card and banking details, identity documents of Medibank and ahm resident customers, and health claims data for extras services.
While there is no guarantee that direct customer extortion or an online data leak won't happen, a few days after the initial revelation of the breach Medibank started setting up support services for affected customers, and announced they will be offering financial, mental health, identity protection and monitoring help, and reimbursement of fees for re-issue of identity documents that have been fully compromised.