Australia’s Medibank gets second class-action lawsuit over 2022 data breach

Medibank Private Ltd was slapped with a second class motion lawsuit associated to its disclosures on its cyber safety programs main up to an information breach final yr, Australia’s largest well being insurer stated on Wednesday.

Last October, Medibank disclosed {that a} hacker had gained knowledge of 9.7 million present and former prospects and launched the info on the darkish net.

The firm breached its disclosure obligations by not revealing info relating to the alleged deficiencies in its cyber safety programs, US-based legislation agency Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan alleged in its class motion lawsuit.

Medibank stated it intends to defend itself, whereas Quinn Emmanuel didn’t reply instantly for remark.

An identical lawsuit was filed in early February by legislation agency Baker & McKenzie, which alleged a breach of contract and contraventions of Australian shopper legislation.

Medibank was one of many many Australian corporations which have been focused by hackers since September final yr, with Rio Tinto and Latitude Group the most recent additions.

Medibank’s shares ended 0.3% greater on Wednesday. The inventory has fallen about 3.8% because it disclosed the hack final October. 2022 knowledge breach

Medibank, which covers one-sixth of Australians, stated final yr that an unidentified individual confirmed the corporate stolen private info of 100 prospects, together with medical diagnoses and procedures, as a part of a theft of 200 gigabytes of information, first disclosed by the corporate every week earlier.

The firm didn’t say what number of of its 4 million prospects have been more likely to have been affected however warned the quantity was more likely to rise. The Australian Federal Police had opened an investigation into the breach.

The disclosure added a brand new layer of angst to a wave of cyber assaults on Australia’s greatest corporations since quantity two telco Optus, owned by Singapore Telecommunications Ltd, revealed that knowledge of as much as 10 million prospects might have been stolen.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that it obtained a message from an individual claiming to be the Medibank hacker threatening to publish medical data of high-profile people until the individual have been paid.

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