AFP

A major Australian health insurer warned Tuesday of a “distressing” threat by a purported hacker to release client data within 24 hours, following a hack affecting 10 million people.

Medibank Private, one of Australia’s largest insurers, told customers to be “vigilant” after the reported threat, issued a day after it had ruled out paying any ransom demand.

The company revealed Monday that a hack originally thought to have breached the data of 3.9 million people had in fact given access to the names, birth dates, addresses, phone numbers and emails of about 9.7 million former and existing clients.

Those numbers included 1.8 million international customers.

On Tuesday, an anonymous poster on a hacking blog — widely cited by Australian media — said that data from the Medibank hack “will be publish in 24 hours”. 

It was not possible to confirm whether the poster was connected to the hack or had access to people’s stolen information.

“We knew the publication of data online by the criminal could be a possibility, but the criminal’s threat is still a distressing development for our customers,” Medibank chief executive David Koczkar said, calling for clients to be “vigilant”.

“We unreservedly apologise to our customers,” he added.

The hacker could also attempt to contact customers directly, the company warned.

– ‘Betrayal’ –

Medibank had said in Monday’s announcement that it believed “all of the customer data accessed could have been taken by the criminal”.

The data breach included some people’s health claims along with codes exposing their diagnoses and medical procedures, as well as the passport numbers and the visa details of international students. 

Medibank said it was working with the Australian government and with the police, who were trying to prevent the sharing and sale of the stolen data.

Cybercrime experts had advised that paying a ransom had only a “limited chance” of ensuring the return of the stolen data, the company said, explaining its decision to reject any ransom demand.

Two law firms said Tuesday they had joined forces to investigate a possible class action lawsuit against Medibank.

“We believe the data breach is a betrayal of Medibank Private’s customers and a breach of the Privacy Act,” said a joint statement by Bannister Law and Centennial Lawyers.

“Medibank has a duty to keep this kind of information confidential.”

The Medibank hack followed an attack on telecom company Optus in September that exposed the personal information of some nine million Australians.

As data theft becomes more common, it may raise questions over the need for Australian businesses to gather customers’ sensitive personal information, said Michael Duffy, associate professor of corporate law at Monash University.

Some of those data retention policies were dictated by government regulation, he added.

“Nevertheless, businesses requesting and keeping personal details that aren’t completely essential could become more legally problematic for them, if they are hacked.”

Climate deniers looking to block action and “greenwashing” companies could have free rein on Twitter after Elon Musk’s takeover, analysts warned as leaders pursued anti-warming efforts at the COP27 summit.

The Tesla billionaire and self-declared free-speech absolutist has fired thousands of staff -– with sustainability executives Sean Boyle and Casey Junod among those signing off from the platform last week.

Musk has promised to reduce Twitter’s content restrictions and after the takeover announced plans to create a “content moderation council” to review policies.

“It’s not clear what Mr Musk really plans to do. However… if he removes all attempts at content moderation, we can expect a surge of disinformation, as well as increases in misleading and greenwashing advertisements,” said Naomi Oreskes, a professor of the history of science at Harvard University who has authored leading studies on climate misinformation.

“Greenwashing” means companies misleading the public about their impact on the planet through messages and token gestures.

“We may also see an increase in hateful comments directed towards climate scientists and advocates, particularly women,” Oreskes said.

Following the buyout, one climate journalist tweeted that he had received death threats on the platform. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

– Sustainability execs axed –

Researchers and campaigners say that despite measures announced by social platforms, climate misinformation is thriving, undermining belief in climate change and the action needed to tackle it.

Twitter and other tech giants such as Facebook and Google have said they are acting to make false claims less visible.

But the Institute for Strategic Dialogue think tank said in a detailed study this year that messages aiming to “deny, deceive and delay” regarding climate action were prevalent across social media.

Under Twitter’s policy before the takeover, it said “misleading advertisements on Twitter that contradict the scientific consensus on climate change are prohibited”.

“We believe that climate denialism shouldn’t be monetised on Twitter, and that misrepresentative ads shouldn’t detract from important conversations about the climate crisis,” Boyle and Junod wrote in an Earth Day post on Twitter’s blog.

Both posted messages on November 4 with the hashtag “LoveWhereYouWorked”, indicating they were among those laid off after Musk’s $44-million takeover. They did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

– Scientists at risk –

Beyond false information, some specialists warned that climate scientists themselves face threats if moderation falters.

A surge in hate speech drove Twitter’s head of safety and integrity Yoel Roth to respond, trying to calm concerns. He tweeted that the platform’s “core moderation capabilities remain in place”.

Musk wrote on November 4 that “Twitter’s strong commitment to content moderation remains absolutely unchanged.”

“I worry that scientific falsehoods will find a bigger platform on Twitter under Musk’s leadership,” said Genevieve Guenther, founder of the media activism group End Climate Silence.

“But I worry even more that the website will start deplatforming climate scientists and advocates who criticise right-wing views, preventing them from connecting to each other and to decision-makers in media and government.”

– Blue ticks at COP? –

Among Musk’s plans is an $8 monthly charge for users to have a blue tick by their name — currently a mark of authenticity for officials, celebrities, journalists and others.

“To me, this is opening the door to highly coordinated disinformation and manipulation,” said Melissa Aronczyk, an associate professor in communication and information at Rutgers University.

Musk said the move aims to reduce hate speech by making it too expensive for trolls to have multiple accounts.

Aronczyk argued the system would give a mark of authenticity to those willing to pay for a blue tick to push an agenda.

She pointed to the controversy around Hill+Knowlton Strategies — a PR company working for big fossil fuel companies -– reportedly hired by host Egypt to handle public relations for the COP27 summit.

“Picture every Hill+Knowlton staffer working for COP27 creating a network of blue-check accounts to promote the business-led initiatives at the summit. Or downplaying the conflicts. Or ignoring protests,” Aronczyk said.

“It’s basically letting corporate greenwashing become the default communication style around climate change.”

French automaker Renault will pitch investors Tuesday on its planned green revamp, with two spin-offs: a new electric-vehicle unit and a subsidiary for thermal and hybrid assets. 

The electric vehicle market is expected to grow rapidly in response to consumers’ worries about climate change, putting pressure on manufacturers to develop less polluting products.

The European Union last month agreed to phase out new CO2-emitting vehicles by 2035, a move set to turbo-charge the production of electric prototypes on the continent.

At an investor day in Paris on Tuesday, Renault is expected to outline its green transformation. 

The flagship division of the carmaker’s reorganisation is Ampere, a split-off expected to employ around 10,000 staff in France and produce electric vehicles in the north.

Renault plans to invite investment in Ampere but would remain the majority shareholder.

Renault also intends to combine its technological, manufacturing, and research and development activities for its hybrid and internal-combustion vehicles in a subsidiary called “Horse”.

The subsidiary is expected to employ an estimated 19,000 people across Europe, China and South America.

Chinese car manufacturer Geely is being considered for a stake in the company.

“We are designing an agile and innovative organisation to manage the volatility and accelerated technological evolution of our time,” said Renault CEO Luca de Meo.

Investors on Monday expressed their interest in Renault’s transformation, with the group’s shares climbing 3.77 percent on the Paris stock market.

The company suffered a historic loss in 2020 and its recovery was destabilised by its withdrawal from Russia following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

The value of traditional car manufacturers pales in comparison to new players on the market specialising in electric vehicles such as Elon Musk’s Tesla or Chinese firm BYD.

Renault still needs large investment to accelerate its electric transformation, according to plans it presented in 2020.

US giant Ford has taken similar steps, announcing the creation of the “Ford Model E” earlier this year.

Renault’s sales of traditional internal-combustion vehicles are falling. In the first nine months of 2022, hybrid and electric vehicles represented 38 percent of the brand’s registrations in Europe, a year-on-year increase of 12 percent.

The planned separation of Renault’s electric and conventional production has concerned trade unions after several waves of job cuts.

A major Australian health insurer warned Tuesday of a “distressing” threat by a purported hacker to release data within 24 hours from a hack affecting 10 million people.

Medibank Private, one of Australia’s largest insurers, told customers to be “vigilant” after the reported threat, issued a day after it had ruled out paying any ransom demand.

The warning came a day after a hack originally thought to have breached the data of 3.9 million customers had in fact given access to the names, birth dates, addresses, phone numbers and emails of about 9.7 million former and existing clients.

On Tuesday, an anonymous poster on a hacking blog — widely cited by Australian media — said “data will be publish in 24 hours”. 

It was not possible to confirm whether the poster was connected to the hack or had access to people’s stolen information.

“We knew the publication of data online by the criminal could be a possibility, but the criminal’s threat is still a distressing development for our customers,” Medibank chief executive David Koczkar said, calling for customers to be “vigilant”.

“We unreservedly apologise to our customers,” he added, describing the “weaponisation” of their data as malicious.

The hacker could also attempt to contact customers directly, the company warned.

The data breach of Medibank — one of Australia’s largest insurers — included 1.8 million international customers.

– ‘Betrayal’ –

The company had said in Monday’s announcement that they believe “all of the customer data accessed could have been taken by the criminal”, which contained people’s health claims along with codes exposing their diagnoses and medical procedures. 

Passport numbers and the visa details of international students were also part of the data hack. 

Medibank said it was working with the Australian government and with the police, who were trying to prevent the sharing and sale of the stolen data.

Cybercrime experts had advised that paying a ransom had only a “limited chance” of ensuring the return of the stolen data, Koczkar said, adding that it could encourage the direct extortion of its clients.

“It is for these reasons that we have decided we will not pay a ransom for this event,” he said. 

Two law firms said Tuesday they had joined forces to investigate a possible class action lawsuit against Medibank.

“We believe the data breach is a betrayal of Medibank Private’s customers and a breach of the Privacy Act,” said a joint statement by Bannister Law and Centennial Lawyers. “Medibank has a duty to keep this kind of information confidential.”

The Medibank hack followed an attack on telecom company Optus in September that exposed the personal information of some nine million Australians — almost a third of the population.

Asian markets were mixed on Tuesday following an upbeat session on Wall Street as investors look towards crucial midterm elections that polls show could upend power in Washington.

Shares fell in Hong Kong and Shanghai as speculation about a possible rollback of China’s strict zero-Covid policies fuelled volatility, even after the government vowed to stick with its harsh lockdowns and testing regimes.

But Tokyo stocks gained 1.3 percent at the break, extending rallies in New York, where stocks ended higher and the dollar retreated against both the pound and the euro.

Early voting has begun in many states and most US voters go to the polls on Tuesday, with a Republican takeover of Congress likely dooming President Joe Biden’s ambitious proposals.

Polls show Republicans are likely to win at least one house of Congress — and some see the prospect of further Washington gridlock as a scenario that could lessen the risk of policy uncertainty.

“This may very well be taken as a positive for equity markets over coming days,” Clifford Bennett, chief economist at ACY Securities, said in a note.

“The Biden administration, while welcomed to office by financial markets, has nonetheless delivered on being a very big spending government,” Bennett said.

“It is difficult to argue the extreme inflation and slowing economy are entirely the Biden administration’s fault, but voters will be very clear in their feelings on the matter just the same.”

On Monday, US stocks climbed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average finishing up 1.3 percent and the broad-based S&P 500 rising 1.0 percent.

The next major data point that investors are watching is US inflation data due on Thursday.

Seoul gained 0.8 percent, Taipei jumped 1.0 percent and Sydney was up 0.3 percent in morning trade, with Singapore also rising 0.2 percent.

But Hong Kong was down 0.6 percent after jumping nearly three percent in the previous session as investors continued to hope for a relaxation of China’s strict Covid-19 rules.

“Speculation about reopening continues to add some market volatility,” Taylor Nugent, an economist at National Australia Bank, said in a commentary.

“In a timely reminder of the potential for Covid policy to hit output, Apple warned iPhone shipments will be lower than previously expected after China lockdowns affected operations at a supplier’s factory,” he noted.

Shanghai was down 0.6 percent, while Jakarta fell 0.3 percent, Bangkok retreated 0.2 percent and Wellington dropped 0.7 percent.

– Key figures around 0230 GMT –

Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 1.3 percent at 27,879.70 (break)

Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.6 percent at 16,491.63

Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.6 percent at 3,057.89

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.1517 from $1.1513 on Monday

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0012 from $1.0023

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 146.59 from 146.68 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.97 pence from 87.03 pence

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.1 percent at $91.63 per barrel

Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 0.8 percent at $97.80 per barrel

New York – Dow: UP 1.3 percent at 32,827.00 (close)

London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.5 percent at 7,299.99 (close)