This appeared last week:
11:00pm, Nov 21, 2017 Updated: 11:09pm, Nov 21
Revealed: Alan Tudge’s department knew of Medicare breach prior to bombshell report
Exclusive
The Department of Human Services flagged the illegal sale of Medicare details on the dark web almost a fortnight before the illicit trade was exposed in a bombshell media report, The New Daily can exclusively reveal.
Internal emails, obtained under freedom of information laws, reveal that department officials discussed the security issue as early as June 22 – nearly two weeks before revelations that Medicare numbers were being sold online.
On July 4, The Guardian revealed that a dark web vendor was advertising the sale of any Australian’s Medicare number for the bitcoin equivalent of just $22 after exploiting a government system vulnerability.
In the wake of the revelations, Human Services Minister Alan Tudge said that he and his department had only learned of the illicit trade when contacted by a Guardian journalist on July 3.
However, high-priority correspondence within DHS shows that senior officials discussed the trade on the dark net, which is only accessible through a customised browser, nearly two weeks before it made the news.
On June 22, Rhonda Morris, national manager for serious non-compliance, raised the issue with Kate Buggy, national manager for internal fraud control and investigations, and Mark Withnell, general manager of business integrity, as well as several unnamed officials.
In a later email on July 3, Mr Withnell apparently connected The Guardian’s inquiries to the department’s earlier discussions on the issue, writing to colleagues: “This is the one I was mentioning last week.”
Much more here:
Somehow the word ‘sprung’ leaps to mind. What a great gotcha which shows just how hard it is to believe what you are being told!
David.
With the CEO for the ADHA having a track record of being less than open and transparent with citizen data intended use one needs to question just what they are hiding to get the GovHR over the line to secure all that valuable booty
ReplyDeleteThe Register:
ReplyDeletehttps://forums.theregister.co.uk/forum/1/2017/11/29/hardly_anyone_uses_australias_my_health_record_service/
and Reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/australia/comments/7gqlw5/hardly_anyone_uses_australias_my_health_record/
No wonder ADHA don't want to run a PR campaign. Talk about a hornet's nest.
5:02 PM, hard to disagree. However it is down to the Minister and the Board to decide if the current CEO has served his purpose and a change in guard is needed, after all they will wear the risk and the consequences.
ReplyDeleteHe also has a track record of trying to bully journalists. Let's see how that pans out.
ReplyDeleteI have a fairly high regard for the integrity and objectivity of journalists reporting on health matters. They are also tenacious when it comes to exposing project wastage and management incompetence. They do not respond well to intimidation or obfuscation.
ReplyDelete@5:32 PM bullying journalists is akin to whipping them with a wet lettuce leaf.
ReplyDeleteJournalists to one side, this original post is quite serious. Not because of the breech but because of the way it appears to have been known of and people seemed more interested in protecting their own skin rather than the personal information of those they serve. I question that if our own citizens care little in protecting us then would someone who probably is not eligible to have a MyHR really care that much?
ReplyDelete