Medibank class action investigations started. Australian law firms are filing a major data breach complaint against Medibank. Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, Bannister Law Class Actions, and Centennial Lawyers are suing Medibank to compensate 9.7 million consumers. Moreover, Medibank compensation can be worth $20,000 per person! It is quite impressive, right? Aussies must have been impressed that they’re already asking how to join Medibank class action. All three companies claim that tens of thousands of people have signed up.
Do you remember what happened? Let’s quickly remind the Medibank data breach, understand what is happening and forecast what will happen.
Medibank class action: How did the Medibank data breach happen?
The Russian ransomware organization responsible for the Medibank data breach released the stolen data in phases on the dark web in October, affecting millions of present and past customers.
In October, Medibank disclosed to the general public the fact that the company had been the victim of a cyber attack. It turned out to be worse than initially anticipated by Medibank, with 9.7 million clients having their information compromised.
The private health insurer informed its shareholders of the ‘cyber incident’ on October 12. It claimed that the company had immediately taken steps to control the situation and had hired dedicated cybersecurity specialists.
According to Medibank’s statement at the time, the cyber intrusion had not compromised any critical information, including client information.
On October 17th, it reaffirmed that it had found no evidence that any client data had been stolen from its IT infrastructure, despite ongoing investigations. Meanwhile, Medibank was revealed to have been the target of ransomware extortion, with the word “ransom” being buried deep within the company’s communications. On October 19, however, events took an unexpectedly Optus-like turn.
Do you know Optus Data Breach compensation can be worth billions of dollars?
On October 19, Medibank announced it had received messages from a group that “wishes to negotiate with the company regarding their alleged removal of customer data.” During this negotiation, hackers threatened to reveal the personal health records of influential Australians unless a ransom was paid.
Medibank acknowledged the data breach on October 20, and the company said that the Australian Federal Police were investigating the matter as a criminal matter. After further investigation, on October 26, Medibank announced that the data of all of its clients had been compromised.
But on November 7th, Medibank let the cat out of the bag and revealed how dire things really were.
“Given the nature of this crime, we now believe that all of the customer data accessed could have been taken by the criminal.”
-Medibank
It has been reported that the criminal may have gained access to the names, dates of birth, residences, phone numbers, and emails of approximately 9.7 million current and past clients and some of their authorized representatives held by Medibank, and now, they carefully following the class action process and waiting for the compensation. At least there is some good news, up to $20,000 in compensation may be available to each of the 9.7 million consumers directly impacted.
Centennial Lawyers principal solicitor George Newhouse told Australians might be compensated anywhere from $500 to $20,000. But first, you should join Medibank class action.
“It’s very important for people to register, because if you don’t register and indicate what loss you’ve suffered you may not receive compensation.”
-Newhouse
Check out our Medibank data breach article for detailed information about what happened.
How to join Medibank class action?
Don’t worry; it is quite easy! You can join the Medibank data breach investigation if you are or were a Medibank, ahm, or international student policy client.
To do so, visit the websites of Centennial Lawyers, Bannister Law Class Actions, or Maurice Blackburn.
You’ll need to give the following information for the Medibank class action sign-up:
- Name
- Phone number
- Postal address
There is no cost or time limit to sign up at this time.
At the time of writing, 45,000 people had already registered, and many more were anticipated to do so, according to George Newhouse, the principal solicitor at Centennial Lawyers.
Data breaches and hacks are today’s biggest problems. Check out the latest data breaches and hacks before we continue: Twitter data breach, CHI Health data breach, Facebook data breach, Uber security data breach, American Airlines data breach, Medibank cyber attack, and Binance hack.
Medibank compensation amount
The law firms of Maurice Blackburn, Bannister Law Class Actions, and Centennial Lawyers have joined forces to handle the data breach case against Medibank, which they hope will result in financial compensation for the 9.7 million consumers who were harmed by the breach.
The potential Medibank compensation amount per person can be worth anywhere from $500 to $20,000. This means that the potential payout for the class action lawsuit is between $4.850.000.000 and $194,000,000.00.
Outcomes of data breaches: Equifax & T-Mobile
The credit reporting firm Equifax acknowledged on September 7, 2017, that one of its computer networks had had a data leak that had exposed the personal information of 143 million clients, which eventually rose to 147 million. These records included information about the customers’ names, residences, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and credit card numbers, all of which may be exploited for fraud and identity theft.
Equifax agreed to establish a fund to provide customers with free credit monitoring, identity theft protection, and cash compensation of up to $20,000 per to people harmed by the event, per the deal’s conditions. Additionally, the company must pay court fees and government fines.
Take a closer look at how data breaches effects companies: Equifax Data breach settlement
The cybersecurity vulnerability was first disclosed by T-Mobile and was made public on August 16, 2021. According to reports, almost 77 million consumers’ personally identifiable information was stolen due to the T-Mobile data breach. This contained database data such as addresses, dates of birth, social security numbers, driver’s license numbers, unique IMEIs and identification codes for client phones, etc.
If granted, the $350 million T-Mobile deal will represent US history’s second-largest payment for a data breach.
Take a closer look at how data breaches effects companies: T-Mobile Data Breach Settlement
What is a class action?
In a class action, one person, known as the representative plaintiff, asserts legal rights on behalf of a larger group of persons who have experienced similar harm. Even though the value of individual claims is minor, putting claims together and pursuing them collectively is economically advantageous due to the entire value of the claim.
