Medibank sued by privacy watchdog over cyber attack [Video]

Australia’s privacy watchdog is suing health insurance giant Medibank following its October 2022 data breach, alleging the company breached the nation’s privacy laws and exposed its customers to a risk of identity theft, extortion and financial crime.

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) has filed civil proceedings in the Federal Court against Medibank, following the hack that affected nearly 10 million current and past Medibank customers who had their information released on the dark web.

The watchdog alleges Medibank failed to take reasonable steps to protect customers’ personal information from misuse and unauthorised access, in breach of Australia’s Privacy Act, alleging one contravention of the Act for each of the 9.7 …