New South Wales residents may have been caught up in a massive cyber attack in which personal information, including health-related details, were accessed by hackers.
The state’s health department on Friday issued a statement saying that a world-wide attack had impacted NSW government agencies, including NSW Health.
Different types of details, including identity information and, in some cases, health-related information, was included in the attack, NSW Health said.
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“The privacy of individuals is of the utmost importance to NSW Health, and we are making impacted people aware of the attack so that they can take appropriate precautions and access our support services,” a spokesperson said.
Some 100 organisations around the world, including government bodies, hospitals and universities, were caught up in the attack.
It took place over the New Year’s break at the start of this year.
NSW Health has since begun contacting people whose information was caught up in the attack.
It says a Cyber Incident Help Line has been established to provide further information to those who are contacted.
“If you are contacted by NSW Health, you will be given the Cyber Incident Help Line details; if you are not contacted by NSW Health, no action is required,” NSW Health said.
It added that medical records in public hospitals were not impacted and the breached software is no longer used by NSW Health.
“NSW Health has been working with NSW Police and Cyber Security NSW and to date, there is no evidence any of the information has been misused.”
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