Medibank hackers threaten to release health data of 9.7million Australians in ‘legitimate’ threat

International cyberhackers have threatened to expose the personal data of millions of Australians unless Medibank pays up within 24 hours.

A bizarre cartoon meme was posted by alleged hackers on a dark web forum early Tuesday morning a day after the health insurance giant said it would not be paying a ransom.

The post quoted Confucius saying: ‘A man who has committed a mistake and doesn’t correct it is committing another mistake.’

The post added under the quote: ‘Data will be publish in 24 hours. P.S I recommend to sell Medibank stocks.’ 

Hackers updated the threat with a YouTube link to an ABC satirical article by comedian Mark Humphries about Medibank.

Authorities have confirmed they believe the threat to be legitimate. 

It’s believed the hackers responsible for the latest threat are part of a Russian group. 

Alleged hackers have posted a bizarre meme (pictured) as they threatened to releases the personal data of millions of Australia in 24 hours unless Medibank pays up

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‘Whoever these hackers are, they’re very aware the scale of the incident down here in Australia,’ tech expert Trevor Long told 2GB’s Ben Fordham on Tuesday.

‘If we pay ransom it will get even worse, so it’s an important thing Medibank doesn’t pay any ransom.’ 

The latest threat comes a day after the health insurance giant refused to pay a ransom to cybercriminals who stole the private information of 9.7million current and former customers last month.

The health insurer on Monday revealed the details of nearly 10million customers had been accessed in the major data breach, including information like names, date of birth, phone number and email addresses.

The company decided not to pay the criminals responsible any ransom money after seeking advice from cybersecurity experts.

‘Based on the extensive advice we have received from cybercrime experts we believe there is only a limited chance paying a ransom would ensure the return of our customers’ data and prevent it from being published,’ chief executive  David Koczkar said on Monday.