By Renju JoseSYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia on Tuesday imposed cyber sanctions on a Russian man for his role in the breach at insurer Medibank, one of the country's biggest data thefts which impacted about 10 million customers.
Targeted financial sanctions and a travel ban have been imposed on Russian citizen Aleksandr Ermakov after Australian authorities linked him to the breach at Medibank, Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil said during a press briefing.
This is the first time Australia has used its cyber sanctions framework since legislating it in 2021.
Medibank in 2022 disclosed that a hacker stole the personal information of 9.7 million current and former customers, and released the data on the dark web.
Hackers in November hit DP World Australia, one of the country's largest ports operators, forcing it to suspend operations for three days.
Persons:
Renju Jose SYDNEY, Aleksandr Ermakov, Clare O'Neil, they're scumbags, we'll, O'Neil, Renju Jose, Jonathan Oatis, Stephen Coates
Organizations:
Medibank, cybercrime, Home Affairs
Locations:
Australia, Victoria, Sydney