Genea investigates possible cyber breach after unauthorised third party accessed data

Patients have reported not being able to access treatment information as an IVF giant investigates a “suspicious” cyber breach that may have exposed thousands of personal details.

A major IVF provider for Aussies hoping to become parents has confirmed an “unauthorised third party” has accessed its data, after “suspicious activity” was detected.

In a statement released on Wednesday, Genea confirmed it was “urgently” investigating whether a cyber incident occurred on its platform.

It comes five days after the health provider experienced an outage with its phone lines.

Genea is investigating a cyber incident after confirming an "unauthorised third party" accessed company data. Picture: Supplied

“Genea is urgently investigating a cyber incident after identifying suspicious activity on our network,” the statement read.

“As soon as we detected the incident, we took immediate steps to contain the incident and secure our systems.

“Out of an abundance of caution, this included taking some of our systems and servers offline while we investigated the incident.

“These are now being restored while we continue our investigation.

“Our ongoing investigation has identified that an unauthorised third party has accessed Genea data.

“We are urgently investigating the nature and extent of data that has been accessed and the extent to which it contains personal information.

“We acknowledge the importance that people place on their information, especially in this current environment. We are committed to keeping you updated as we learn more.”

Patients using the provider may have had their data access by an ‘unauthorised third party’. Picture: iStock

The provider confirmed there would “minimal disruption” to current treatments at clinics across the country.

“We are working hard to ensure that there is minimal disruption to treatment being provided to our patients,” Genea said in a statement.

“If you do not hear from your local Genea clinic, there is no change to your current treatment schedule.

“We will communicate with relevant individuals if our investigation identifies any evidence that their personal information has been impacted.

“We sincerely apologise for any concern this incident may cause and want to reassure patients that we take your privacy and the security of your data very seriously.

“We also want to reassure you that our teams of specialists, nurses and office support staff are working tirelessly to ensure that there is minimal disruption to your treatment, which is of our utmost priority and importance.”

Genea patients get all their information and scheduling for treatment via an app, rather than email.

However, when the app was unavailable on February 14 due to the possible breach, some patients took to the IVF provider’s Instagram to raise concerns about access to their own profiles.

“App still down. Need my blood slip. No answer on emails. Hope this delay doesn’t affect my treatment plan,” one person wrote.

Genea is one of Australia’s three largest IVF providers, with thousands of patients at clinics across the country, as one in every 18 births are now a product of IVF.

Genea was acquired by private equity firm Liverpool Partners in 2002.