Alleged Medibank hackers reveal ransom demands

The suspected hackers behind the theft of Medibank data linked to 9.7 million customers have claimed they demanded a $US10 million (NZ$17 million) ransom from the health insurer.

In a message posted on the dark web yesterday morning, the ransomware group said it has released sensitive details of Medibank customers’ medical procedures.

‘‘Society ask us about ransom, it’s US$10 millions. We can make discount US$9.7m 1$=1 customer.

‘‘Medibanks CEO stated, that ransom amount is ‘irrelevant’. We want to inform the customers, that He refuses to pay for yours data more, like 1 USD per person. So, probably customers data and extra efforts don’t cost that.’’

Medibank confirmed it was ‘‘aware that the criminal has released an additional file on a dark web forum containing customer data that is believed to have been stolen from Medibank’s systems.’’

The company asked the media, and general public, to refrain from accessing the customer data and contacting them ‘‘given the sensitive nature of the stolen customer data that is being released on the dark web’’.

‘‘The weaponisation of people’s private information in an effort to extort payment is malicious, and it is an attack on the most vulnerable members of our community,’’ Medibank chief executive David Koczkar said.

‘‘These are real people behind this data, and the misuse of their data is deplorable and may discourage them from seeking medical care.’’

Security researcher Troy Hunt said the attackers probably knew Medibank would not pay the ransom but were making an example of it and its customers.

‘‘It sends a pretty strong signal to the next organisation that they ransom,’’ he said.

‘‘Making this as horrendous as possible is good business for them. Because the next customer is going to see this and go ‘jeez, what are we going to do?’.’’

Communications posted on the dark web, allegedly between the criminals and Medibank, have indicated as much.

‘‘In the event of a negative outcome of the negotiations for us, we will do everything in power to inflict as much damage as possible for you, both financial and reputational,’’ the hackers flagged.