On 26th October Australia’s largest health insurer reported that a cybercriminal hacked the personal data of all its 4 million customers, and that “significant amounts of health claims data” had also been accessed in the breach. A ransom has been demanded with reported threats to expose the diagnoses and treatments of high-profile customers.

The company had previously said the breach was thought to be limited to its subsidiary AHM and foreign students.

The Australian government has been planning urgent legislative reforms on cybersecurity regulation since a hacker stole the personal data of nearly 10 million current and former customers of Optus, Australia’s second-largest wireless telecommunications carrier.