A company that operates more than 60 healthcare clinics across Australia has confirmed it was the victim of a cyber attack, with potentially dozens of general practices compromised by the incident.
Partnered Health disclosed details of the incident on July 15, warning that it had become aware of malicious activity on its network on June 23.
“In response, Partnered Health engaged specialist cyber experts to provide advice. We took immediate steps to contain the incident and assess whether personal information was accessed. This investigation remains ongoing,” Partnered Health said.
“Our investigations to date have confirmed that personal information (including health information) was taken from some of the clinics in our network. We are continuing to investigate the extent to which personal information has been impacted by this incident and are communicating with patients from impacted clinics.”
The company said it was working with the relevant authorities, including the Australian Cyber Security Centre and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.
While investigations remain ongoing, Partnered Health has confirmed patient data was accessed, including names & emails, dates of birth, and addresses. Medicare numbers, private health insurance details, and Veteran Card numbers may also have been compromised.
In addition, the threat actor may have accessed “medical information and treatment details, including consultation notes, referral letters, and pathology or diagnostic results recorded by a GP or other medical professionals at our clinics”.
According to Partnered Health, the practices that have been impacted include:
- Blackburn Road Medical Centre
- Broadway General Practice
- Bundall Medical Centre
- Cardiff Medical Centre & Skin Cancer Clinic
- Castle Hill Family Doctors
- Champion Drive Medical Centre
- Chancellor Park Family Medical Practice
- Dromana Family Doctors
- Dural Medical Centre
- Joondalup City Medical Group
- Kealba Family Practice
- Mornington Family Doctors
- Noosaville Seven Day Medical Centre
- North Canberra Family Practice
- Park Beach Family Practice
- Park Orchards Family Practice
- Rockingham City Family Practice
- Sans Souci Medical Practice
- Templestowe District Medical Centre
- Wentworth Avenue Family Practice
- Wyong Family Practice
Partnered Health said it has obtained an injunction from the Supreme Court of New South Wales ordering that the data is not used or published.
No threat actor has yet taken responsibility for the incident.
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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.