Medibank said more leaks were likely. “The files appear to be a sample of the data we previously identified the criminal had access to,” the company said in a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange. “We expect the criminal to continue posting files to the dark web.” Medibank previously refused to pay a ransom to prevent hackers from leaking the data, saying it could fuel further crimes and would not guarantee the information was secure. “Based on the extensive advice we received from cybercrime experts, we believe there is only a limited chance that paying a ransom would secure the return of our customers’ data and prevent it from being published,” said Medibank chief executive David Koczkar. The leaked data was posted on an obscure web forum that cannot be found using conventional web browsers. “We will continue to publish data in part,” the alleged hackers said on the forum. “Looking back the data is not a very understandable format, it will take us some time to sort it out.” French Cyber Command Assistant Commissioner Justine Gough said the “criminal or criminal groups” responsible for the hack may be operating outside Australia. Australia’s assistant treasurer Steven Jones said they were “fraudsters” and “fraudsters”. “We must not give in to these crooks,” he told Sky News Australia. “The moment we fold it sends the green light to scumbags like these around the world that Australia is a soft target.” The security breach has already wiped hundreds of millions of dollars off Medibank’s market value, with the company’s share price down more than 20% since October.
