Latest cybersecurity reporting from selected sources.

It’s possible to leak PII describing 5.7 million people without breaching privacy rules

Australian Human Rights Commission Detected Leak of 670 Online Forms After a MonthThe Australian Human Rights Commission said unprotected online complaint forms exposed the personal, healthcare and demographic information of Australians to the public internet for over a month. The data leak exposed 670 complaints and nominations online.

An internal error led to public disclosure of reams of sensitive data that could be co-opted for follow-on cyberattacks.

The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) disclosed a data breach incident where private documents leaked online and were indexed by major search engines. [...]

Researchers: Ransomware Group Emerged Last Fall; Variant of Babuk MalwareA new ransomware gang, Termite, has started leaking on the dark web samples of sensitive data stolen in an attack on Australian fertility clinic Genea. A court has issued a restraining order in hopes of preventing the threat actor or others from further disseminating, using or publishing the data.

Full names, contact details, and company info – all the fixings for a phishing holiday Data allegedly belonging to more than 304,000 customers of Australian camera and tech e-tailer digiDirect has been leaked to an online cyber crime forum.…

Hackers Exploited Coding Error, Says Australian Communications and Media AuthorityHackers behind the leak of 10 million records from Australia's second-largest telecommunications carrier Optus exploited a vulnerability the company unwittingly inserted four years earlier into a web portal access control, said the Australian Communications and Media Authority.

Court Filing: Threat Actor Stole Admin Credentials From IT Service Desk ContractorMedibank's lack of MFA on its global VPN allowed a hacker to use credentials stolen from an IT services desk contractor to access the private health insurer's IT systems in 2022, leading to a dark web data leak affecting 9.7 million individuals, Australian regulators said in court documents.

Northern Minerals issued an announcement earlier today warning that it suffered a cybersecurity breach resulting in some of its stolen data being published on the dark web. [...]

Firstmac Limited is warning customers that it suffered a data breach a day after the new Embargo cyber-extortion group leaked over 500GB of data allegedly stolen from the firm. [...]

Allegations fly regarding unpaid contractors and iffy infosec Over a million records describing Australians who visited local pubs and clubs have apparently been posted online.…

Also down under, researchers find security-cleared workers leaking details of their gigs An Australian IT contractor has been sentenced to 30 months jail for ripping off the National Maritime Museum.…

3 Suspects Charged With Using Sugar Ransomware, Phishing Attacks Against RussiansRussian authorities have reportedly arrested three accused members of the SugarLocker ransomware-as-a-service operation. Their alleged crime? Targeting Russians, although one suspect has also been tied to a massive hack of Australian health insurer Medibank and subsequent data leak.

Authorities in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States this week levied financial sanctions against a Russian man accused of stealing data on nearly 10 million customers of the Australian health insurance giant Medibank. 33-year-old Aleksandr Ermakov allegedly stole and leaked the Medibank data while working with one of Russia's most destructive ransomware groups, but little more is shared about the accused. Here's a closer look at the activities of Mr. Ermakov's alleged hacker handles.

'Aleksandr Ermakov' isn't allowed down under after being linked to ten-million-record leak Australia's government has used the "significant cyber incidents" sanctions regime it introduced in 2021 for the first time, against a Russian named Aleksandr Gennadievich Ermakov whom authorities have deemed responsible for the 2022 attack on health insurer Medibank Private.…

Yakult Australia, manufacturer of a probiotic milk drink, has confirmed experiencing a "cyber incident" in a statement to BleepingComputer. Both the company's Australian and New Zealand IT systems have been affected. Cybercrime actor DragonForce which claimed responsibility for the attack has also leaked 95 GB of data. [...]

BlackCat attack sparks injunction preventing coverage of purloined docs An infosec incident at a major Australian law firm has sparked fear among the nation's governments, banks and businesses – and a free speech debate.…

Australian law firm HWL Ebsworth confirmed to local media outlets that its network was hacked after the ALPHV ransomware gang began leaking data they claim was stolen from the company. [...]

ALSO: Australia says offensive hacking is working; DJI hit with $279m patent suit; Philippines Police leak data; and more Asia In Brief Chinese scientists have estimated the mass of the Milky Way.…

Latitude blames a 'major vendor' for its woes. Is that a vendor? A cloud? Whoever they are, they're in trouble Latitude Financial has blamed a supplier for leaking creds that caused vast PII leak Australian outfit Latitude Financial has taken itself offline, and even stopped serving customers, while it tries to clean up an attack on its systems.…