Apunipima health service the target of severe cyber attack, causing others to sever online links

A cyber attack on an Indigenous health organisation has taken its IT systems offline and caused other organisations to sever electronic links with it. Find out more here.

Apunipima Cape York Health Council has been the target of a cyber attack that has allowed a “third party” to gain unauthorised access to their IT systems.

A spokesman for Apunipima said the attack has caused “some system outages” and staff in the organisation’s health clinics have shifted to paper-based service delivery.

The organisation does not yet have an expected timeline for “system functionality restoration” and the Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service (TCHHS) has severed all electronic links with the organisation as a precaution.

The spokesman said there has so far been no disruption to service delivery from the organisation’s health clinics.

“Apunipima recently became aware of a cyber security incident where a third party gained unauthorised access to the … I.T. environment and possibly downloaded some information,” the spokesman said.

“We are also aware of a post on the deep web by an unidentified third party claiming responsibility for the unauthorised access … we are taking all appropriate actions in response.

The anonymous Apunipima hacker claimed responsibility for the attack on the dark web.

“As soon as we became aware of the incident, we engaged leading external cyber and forensic IT experts to support us in managing the incident, securing our systems, restoring system functionality and commencing a forensic investigation.”

The spokesman said the organisation had been advised that the forensic investigation to determine what precisely had occurred and if any information had been affected would take some time to complete.

“Should the forensic investigation confirm that anyone’s personal information may have been affected, we will carefully analyse the potentially affected information for the purpose of notifying individuals in a clear and precise manner, including advising them of any steps they need to take,” the spokesman said.

“We do not yet have a timeline for system functionality restoration.”

Beverly Hamilton, TCHHS chief executive, said Apunipima is still working to determine the extent of the attack on their systems.

“Following a close review … no breaches or direct risk to Torres and Cape HHS or broader Queensland Health information systems have been identified at this time,” Ms Hamilton said.

“The Torres and Cape HHS and the CyberSecurity Group will continue to monitor the situation and liaise with Apunipima and provide support as required.”

Originally published as Apunipima health service the target of severe cyber attack, causing others to sever online links