Australia Imposes Cyber Sanctions on Russian for Medibank Cyber Attack
Published on January 23, 2024
Australia has imposed cyber sanctions on a Russian individual for a Medibank Private network data breach 18 months ago. During the attack, more than 9.7 million records were allegedly stolen, including Medicare numbers, sensitive medical information, dates of birth, and names. Russian citizen Aleksandr Ermakov has been handed a travel ban and targeted financial sanctions, making it a criminal offence to provide assets to this individual or use or deal with his assets, including via cryptocurrency wallets or ransomware payments. Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Defence Minister Richard Marles, and Home Affairs and Cyber Security Minister Clare O’Neil announced the measure in a joint press conference on Jan. 23....