by The Tasmanian government is reporting that the federal government has been in touch regarding a possible leak of government data on the dark web, linked to the hack of Australian law firm HWL Ebsworth early last month.
The Tasmanian government is one of the law firm’s clients. The government was aware of the initial hack but is only now being made aware that some of the firm’s information is being leaked online.
Madeleine Ogilvie, Minister for Science and Technology, announced the possible breach in a statement on 9 June.
“This is concerning, and we are working closely with the Australian government to establish if any Tasmanian information has been impacted,” Minister Ogilvie said.
“While this may take some time considering the volume of data involved — we are taking swift action and will keep the Tasmanian community informed with further developments.”
The Russian-backed ALPHV ransomware group claimed HWL Ebsworth’s scalp on 2 May, boasting on its dark web site that it had stolen employee data, including accounting details, insurance data, and more. The group also had in its possession an unknown amount of client data, which included credit card details and financial information, as well as network maps and credentials.
HWL Ebsworth subsequently reportedly reported the incident to the Australian Cyber Security Centre.
This is the second time this year that the Tasmanian government has faced a serious data breach relating to a third-party hack.