A federal investigation is underway into claims the Medicare numbers of Australians are being sold on the dark web.
Human Services Minister Alan Tudge said the alleged data breach is being taken seriously and has been referred to Australian Federal Police.
‘The security of personal data is an extremely serious matter,’ he said in a statement on Tuesday.
The government’s concern stems from a report in The Guardian on how one of its own reporters was able to buy his Medicare card number from a ‘darknet’ trader for less than $30.
Mr Tudge said he’d been assured the information obtained was ‘not sufficient’ to access personal health records.
‘The only information claimed to be supplied by the site was the Medicare card number,’ he said.
But it’s not the first time cyber security issues have been on the department’s radar.
‘Investigations into activities on the dark web occur continually,’ Mr Tudge said.
Source: Sale of Medicare details being investigated
No comments:
Post a Comment