Australia imposed sanctions on Russian hacker due to attack on insurance company
Sanctions have been imposed by Australia against a Russian hacker (photo: Getty Images)
Australia has imposed sanctions on a Russian individual for his role in a cyber attack on the insurance company Medibank. Hackers carried out one of the largest data breaches, affecting around 10 million clients, according to Reuters.
Targeted financial sanctions and a travel ban have been applied to Russian citizen Alexander Yermakov after the Australian government linked him to the Medibank breach.
"These people are cowards and they're scumbags. They hide behind technology and today, the Australian government is saying that when we put our minds to it, we'll unveil who you are, and we'll make sure you are accountable," O'Neil said.
This marks the first instance of Australia using its cyber sanctions regime since its legislative adoption in 2021. The sanctions include criminal liability for providing Yermakov with any assets, including cryptocurrency wallets or ransom payments.
In 2022, the Australian insurance company Medibank reported that a hacker stole personal information from 9.7 million current and former customers and published the data on the dark web.
Attacks by Russian hackers
After the start of the full-scale war, Russian hackers have repeatedly launched cyberattacks on Ukrainian government bodies and beyond.
In particular, Russian hackers exploited a mobile operator Kyivstar glitch to send emails with viruses.
Allied countries of Ukraine also came under attack. A year ago, Russian hackers attempted to target Germany after it decided to transfer tanks to our country.
Recently, it became known that Russian hackers orchestrated a cyberattack on Microsoft and gained access to the accounts of company executives.
