The New South Wales Department of Health in Australia (NSW Health) has confirmed that it has been affected by a cyber attack that exploited a vulnerability in Accellion's file transfer system.
The system has been used by several large organizations around the world to share and store records. According to a statement from NSW Health, the Department was among the organizations using Accellion's system.
See also: Shell: Reports data breach related to Accellion hack
"Following advice from the NSW Government earlier this year regarding a global cyber attack involving NSW government agencies, NSW Health is notifying individuals whose data may have been compromised during the Accellion hack," it said in a statement.
The Health Ministry said that medical records in public hospitals were not affected, and emphasized that the vulnerable software is no longer used by NSW Health.
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The data that has been breached may include identity information and, in some cases, related information health-.
NSW Health said it is working with police and Cyber Security NSW and that to date, there is no evidence to suggest the breached data has been used in any way.
“A cyber incident helpline has been set up to provide further information and support to people who come into contact with NSW Health,” it said. “If NSW Health contacts you, you will be given details of the cyber incident helpline. If there is no contact with NSW Health, no action is required.”
The NSW Police Force and Cyber Security NSW have created Strike Force Martine to determine the impact of the Accellion hack on NSW government services.
Accellion's file sharing program, File Transfer Appliance, is an enterprise product used to transfer large files. Although it has now been retired, a zero-day vulnerability was found in the old software, which was exploited by cybercriminals, breaching multiple organizations.
It is estimated that approximately 100 organizations worldwide have been affected by the Accellion hack.
See also: Flagstar Bank: Customer data breached via Accellion hack
The government agency Transport for NSW also confirmed in February that it had been affected by the breach.
Source: ZDNet
