Australia To Consider Banning Ransomware Payments

Australia will consider banning ransomware payments in a bid to undermine the cybercriminal business model, a government minister said on Sunday. From a report: Clare O'Neil, the minister for home affairs and cybersecurity, confirmed to Australia's public broadcaster ABC that the government was looking at criminalizing extortion payments as part of the government's cyber strategy. The announcement follows several large security incidents affecting the country, including most significantly the data breach of Medibank, one of the country's largest health insurance providers. Earlier this month Medibank stated it would not be making a ransom payment after hackers gained access to the data of 9.7 million current and former customers, including 1.8 million international customers living abroad. All of the data which the criminals accessed "could have been taken," the company said. This includes sensitive health care claims data for around 480,000 individuals, including information about drug addiction treatments and abortions. O'Neil's interview followed the AFP's commissioner Reece Kershaw announcing that they had identified the individual perpetrators of the Medibank hack, and that a group based in Russia was to blame. Further reading: After Ransomware Gang Releases Sensitive Medical Data, Australia Vows Consequences.

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