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· Posted on
February 21, 2024

Oops. Medibank has just realised the personal data of 3.9 million of its customers was stolen. And this is major.

Medibank initially warned that only 'some' data had been exposed... but now it revealed this cyber attack was a whoooole lot bigger.

What's the key learning?

  • Medibank initially warned that only the data of international students and ahm customers were exposed, but the reality was it exposed the data of all 3.9 million of its customers.
  • Medibank hadn't taken out cyber insurance which means its investors will have to foot the bill for the cyber attack.
  • Not only does a data hack impact a company’s customers, it has major financial ramifications for the company too.

👉 Background: Medibank is Australia’s biggest health insurer, with a market value of around $9.65bn. Last week, Medibank warned that some data had been exposed - but don't worry, it was only the data of international students and ahm customers. 🙄

👉 What happened: But yesterday, Medibank revealed this cyber attack was actually a whoooole lot bigger. The recent data hack of its network exposed the data of all 3.9 million of its customers.

👉 What else: But it gets worse because Medibank hadn't taken out cyber insurance - meaning its investors will have to foot the bill for the cyber attack. And this is becoming a real costly exercise.

What's the key learning?

💡Not only does a data hack impact a company’s customers, it has major financial ramifications for the company too. There is the cost of addressing the hack - from tech, cybersecurity, comms and PR.

💡Here are the costs so far:

  • Addressing the hack will likely cost $25-$35m pre-tax
  • Medibank will defer premium increases, which will cost it more than $50m in total
  • Medibank’s shares dropped as much as 16 per cent

💡And these are just the upfront costs - so it will be interesting to whether Medibank takes a permanent hit to its reputation after the breach.

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