The Australian Government has imposed sanctions on Aleksandr Ermakov, a Russian individual implicated in the Medibank Private data breach.
The move marks the first application of the government’s cyber sanctions framework, enacted in 2021 to impose financial penalties on individuals involved in substantial cyberattacks.
The breach, in 2022, exposed the personal details of 9.7 million Medibank customers, including names, dates of birth, Medicare numbers, and sensitive health information, much of which surfaced on the dark web.
According to ABC’s latest report, Ermakov was identified as the responsible party by the Australian Signals Directorate and the Australian Federal Police.
Under these sanctions, it is now a criminal offense to provide assets, including cryptocurrency and ransom payments, to Ermakov, with a potential penalty of up to 10 years in prison.
In a Press conference in Canberra on Tuesday, Home Affairs Minister Claire O’Neil underscored the severity of the situation, describing the Medibank breach as the most devastating cyberattack the nation has witnessed.
“This is a very important day for cybersecurity in our country,” O’Neil said, as reported by ABC. “Medibank, in my view, was the single most devastating cyberattack we have experienced as a nation. We all went through it. Literally millions of people having personal data about themselves, their family members, taken from them and cruelly placed online for others to see.”
Authorities are actively pursuing additional leads related to the Medibank breach, focusing on various Russian cyber gangs. Cooperation with cyber authorities in the US and UK is underway.
Medibank expressed gratitude to the government for identifying Ermakov and imposing sanctions, according to ABC.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong also announced counter-terrorism sanctions against 12 individuals and three entities associated with Hamas, Hezbollah, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
While Shadow Home Affairs Minister James Paterson welcomed the cyber sanctions, he criticised the government for a perceived delay in action. Similarly, Shadow Foreign Minister Simon Birmingham voiced concerns about the speed of the counter-terrorism sanctions, suggesting they could have been implemented sooner.
