Cyber Security News

Law firms file class action lawsuits on Medibank data breach

Eliza Sayon Jan 17, 2023

2 min read

Three Australian law firms have filed class action lawsuits against private health insurer Medibank following the data breach that affected millions of Medibank customers last October.

Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, Bannister Law Class Actions and Centennial Lawyers have come together to run a data breach complaint against Medibank, investigating compensation claims which could secure it for tens of thousands of affected customers.

“This data breach has caused millions of Australians significant distress,” Maurice Blackburn’s head of class actions Andrew Watson said.

“The co-operation agreement ensures that all three law firms are working together for the common aim of obtaining compensation for those affected as quickly as possible.”

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Last October, a Russian ransomware group hacked Medibank’s systems and stole the data of current and former Medibank customers. The data was then publicly released in stages on the dark web.

Maurice Blackburn then lodged a formal complaint against Medibank with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) in November.

Under the firms’ cooperation agreement, they will now pursue the OAIC complaint seeking compensation for those affected by the data breach.

Bannister Law Class Actions principal Charles Bannister said he hoped the cooperation agreement would lead swiftly to compensation payments to the millions of Medibank customers whose data was breached.

“We believe the data breach is a betrayal of Medibank Private’s customers and a breach of the Privacy Act. Medibank has a duty to keep this kind of information confidential,” he said.

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A Medibank representative said the company was continuing to cooperate with the OAIC. The company has also provided a support package for those affected.

“Medibank continues to support its customers from the impact of this crime through our previously announced Cyber Response Support Program which includes mental health and wellbeing support, identity protection and financial hardship measures,” the representative said.

With AAP

Eliza Sayon

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Eliza is a content producer and editor at Public Spectrum. She is an experienced writer on topics related to the government and to the public, as well as stories that uplift and improve the community.