Personal details of 3000 Ambulance Victoria workers stolen in massive data theft

The personal details of 3000 Ambulance Victoria workers have allegedly been stolen by a former employee, with the alarming security breach now being investigated by police.

The personal details of 3000 Ambulance Victoria workers have been stolen by a colleague.

Victoria Police and AV have launched investigations into the circumstances of the alarming breach.

A memo distributed on Friday afternoon by interim AV CEO Andrew Crisp confirmed the unauthorised transfer of files by a former employee was under investigation.

The worker allegedly moved the information out of the system in their last days of employment at AV.

The memo said some contained the personal details of staff but does not say how many.

Mr Crisp said AV immediately secured and deleted the files and that the matter had been reported to Victoria Police.

He said the Australian Federal Police and other relevant cyber and data bodies had also been contacted.

“Those AV staff members whose details have been compromised have been notified and we have engaged specialist identity protection advisers to provide them with advice and support,” Mr Crisp wrote.

Victoria Police are now investigating the data breach. Picture: Dale Webster

AV’s code of conduct bans staff from removing, accessing of copying its data for personal or non-work related purposes.

Mr Crisp said there had been no external infiltration of the system.

Unions representing staff have been briefed.

Victoria Police said its cyber crime squad detectives were examining the breach and inquiries are underway into the circumstances and impact of what had happened.

Mr Crisp said that AV had, in the past two years, strengthened its security network to protect sensitive information.

“Security remain an ongoing priority for us at AV,” he wrote in the Friday email.

“We will continue to enhance our systems, improve detection capabilities and provide education to strengthen data protection across the organisation.”

Members have been left distressed by the breach. Picture: Stephen Harman

In a statement, Mr Crisp said Ambulance Victoria’s cyber security team detected the breach by a former employee on their last day of work.

He said early investigations indicate that details such as home addresses, salaries and individual banking details were among the personal information contained within the files that had been copied and transferred.

“We have engaged digital security agents, notified the Australian Federal Police and Victoria Police and contacting all employees who have had their details compromised,” he said.

“We know how distressing a data breach like this can be and we are providing support to affected employees, including engaging specialist identity protection advisers to provide them with advice and support.”

Ambulance Managers and Professionals Association Director Scott Crawford, who represents office staff at Ambulance Victoria, said his members were “exasperated”.

“Another day, another dumpster fire at Ambulance Victoria,” he said.

“Our members are completely exasperated by yet another governance failure.

“Having been briefed extensively on the situation, AMPA is confident that this is a case of an absent-minded employee rather than a malicious actor.”

An Ambulance Victoria insider, familiar with the situation, said the organisation have “repeatedly punched themselves in the face on this issue”.

“The breach has been dealt with and the data destroyed – the information to hand is that this will go no further and has completely terrified the workforce unnecessarily,” they said.

Victorian Ambulance Union secretary Danny Hill said security breaches are “incredibly distressing” for members.

“AV need to fully investigate this event and reassure staff that their information is protected,” he said.

Originally published as Personal details of 3000 Ambulance Victoria workers stolen in massive data theft