Patient information posted on dark web after cyber attack on IVF company Genea

Picture: ABC News: Patrick Stone

Article Excerpt:

An international ransomware group has published a sample of highly confidential patient information from major Australian IVF provider Genea, after a cyber attack forced the company to shut down its systems for days. The group claiming responsibility, which the ABC has decided not to name, posted screenshots on dark net data leak sites on Wednesday. The group claimed to have 700GB of data from Genea's servers, including personal information spanning six years.

Evan Vougdis, one of our Cyber Directors and Cyber Threat Intelligence Practice Lead provided comment in this article:

NSB Cyber director Evan Vougdis said such sample data posts were often a tactic to validate their claims and put pressure on victims to comply with ransom requests.

"This is what you normally see by ransomware gangs ... just to show and validate their claims of data exfiltration by showing some sample photos,” he said.

"It isn't uncommon for ransomware groups to post [company information] without necessarily posting all the data at the same time."

Mr Vougdis said while the injunction may deter regular Australians from accessing the data, ransomware groups were unlikely to abide by NSW Supreme Court orders.

Source: ABC News - Wednesday 26 February 2025.
Author: By national health reporter Elise Worthington and the Specialist Reporting Team's Celina Edmonds
Reference: Patient information posted on dark web after cyber attack on IVF company Genea