Australia blames Russians for health insurance data theft

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Moscow must he held to account for Russian cybercriminals accused of hacking Australia’s largest health insurer and dumping customers’ personal medical records on the dark web, Australian officials said Friday.

Australian Federal Police took the unusual step of attributing blame for the unsolved cybercrime that resulted in the personal data of 9.7 million current and former Medibank customers being stolen.

A group of “loosely affiliated cybercriminals” operating like a business in Russia were likely responsible for the Medibank attack as well as other significant security breaches around the world, Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw said.

“We believe we know which individuals are responsible, but I will not be naming them,” Kershaw told reporters. “What I will say is that we’ll be holding talks with Russian law enforcement about these individuals."

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who is a Medibank customer who had personal data stolen, said he had authorized police to reveal where the attack had come from.

“We know where they’re coming from, we know who is responsible, and we say that they should be held to account,” Albanese said.

“The nation where these attacks are coming from should also be held accountable for the disgusting attacks, and the release of information including very private and personal information,” Albanese added.

An official from the Russian Embassy in Australia could not be immediately contacted for comment.

The extortionists have been linked to high-profile Russian cybercrime gang REvil, short for Ransomware Evil and also known as Sodinokibi.

The Russian Federal Security Service said in January REvil “ceased to exist” after several arrests were made...