Australian health insurer Medibank Private said on Thursday it will isolate and remove access to some customer-facing systems as it detected unusual activity on its network.
The company said it took “immediate steps to contain the incident, and engaged specialized cybersecurity firms,” adding that there was no evidence that any sensitive data, including customer data, had been accessed at this stage.
The incident follows a breach late last month at Optus, Australia’s second-largest telecoms provider, which compromised data of up to 10 million customers and triggered an overhaul of consumer privacy rules to facilitate targeted data sharing between telecommunication firms and banks.
Medibank said on Thursday the isolation of several customer-facing systems would reduce the likelihood of damage to systems or data loss.
“As a result our AHM (Australian Health Management) and international student policy management systems have been taken offline. We expect these systems to be offline for most of the day,” the health insurer said in a statement.
The company, however, said its health services continue to be available to its customers, which “includes their ability to access their health providers, as we work through this incident.”
Medibank shares had entered a trading halt pending the announcement of the cyber incident, and the health insurer confirmed it would remain closed for trading as it investigates the incident.
BAIKONUR COSMODROME. KAZINFORM A Proton-M carrier rocket with an AngoSat-2 telecoms satellite for Angola blasted off from site No. 81 at the Baikonur spaceport, a TASS correspondent reported from the scene, TASS reports.
The rocket’s head unit comprising a DM-03 booster and the satellite was set to separate from the rocket’s upper stage in 584 seconds after the launch. It will take the booster several hours to deliver the satellite into the designated orbit.
Russia and Angola agreed on creating an AngoSat-2 telecoms satellite instead of the defunct Angosat-1 space vehicle launched from the Baikonur spaceport on December 26, 2017. Contact with the satellite was lost the next day after its launch.
The AngoSat-2 satellite is based on the Express-1000N platform developed by Russia’s Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems Company. The payload module that maintains communications in the C, Ku and Ka frequency bands was delivered by Europe’s Airbus Group. The satellite will operate at 23 degrees east longitude. The telecoms satellite is designed to operate for 15 years.
Angolan Minister of Telecommunications, Information Technology and Social Communication Mario Augusto da Silva Oliveira told reporters on October 11 that the satellite’s operation would begin 90 days after the launch when all technical and technological procedures were over.
