The Aeromedical Society of Australasia (ASA), an organisation devoted to “professionals in air medical transport services across Australia and New Zealand”, has allegedly been hacked by the LockBit 5.0 ransomware operation.
The hackers listed the ASA in an 11 February leak post, and while no evidence of the hack has been shared so far, LockBit said it will publish what it has stolen on 26 February.
LockBit has not revealed how much data it claims to have stolen, nor the nature of that data. Nor has it shared any details of a ransom demand – just the ransom deadline.
The Aeromedical Society of Australasia has confirmed it is aware of LockBit’s claims.
“ASA takes cyber security matter seriously. Once we became aware, we immediately made contact with our contracted provider to alert them and the relevant authorities to seek any advice,” Cameron Edgar, ASM and president of the ASA, told Cyber Daily.
“We do not hold personal information on these platforms and have followed all professional instructions and advice provided to us. ASA will continue to work with our provider and authorities.”
Who is LockBit 5.0?
LockBit was once one of the most prolific ransomware-as-a-service operations on the planet, but since a string of law enforcement takedowns, it has gone through several reinventions.
The latest, 5.0, iteration of the group was first observed in December 2025, when it shared the details of 39 separate organisations it had claimed to have successfully hacked.
While the previous iteration of the group appeared to be focusing on rehashing previous data breaches, this latest version appears to be the real deal, and it has already published data stolen from dozens of companies, including the Marriott hotel chain.
The group refers to itself as “the immortal oldest ransomware affiliate program” on its darknet leak site, where it is actively recruiting for affiliates.
“We have been working since September 3, 2019, and we are not going to stop, no matter how much the intelligence services around the world want us to stop,” the group said.
“We are based in the Netherlands, fully apolitical, and we are only interested in money.”
Despite being allegedly based in the Netherlands, the group’s affiliate rules are shared in both English and Cyrillic.
“We always have unlimited and automatic recruitment of affiliates, no interviews or castings, just sign up at the following link REDACTED and start working within five minutes,” LockBit said.
“No matter what country you live in, what language you speak, your age, your religion, anyone on the planet can work with us at any time of the year.”
Since re-emerging, the new version of LockBit has claimed 135 victims.
Who is the Aeromedical Society of Australasia?
Originally formed as ISAS Australasia in 1985, the Aeromedical Society of Australasia began its life as a branch of the European-focused International Society of Aeromedical Services.
“Aeromedical care includes pre-hospital, inter-hospital, air transport and retrieval clinical care across all age groups; whether broad-based general care or using specialty teams,” the society said on its website.
“The society is focused on education, professional development and sharing through the society’s conferences and other means, including information provided on this website to members and others.”
The society is based in George’s Hall, NSW, and hosts an annual conference for its members – this year’s takes place in Darwin in October – and several annual scholarships.
David Hollingworth
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.