Genea, one of Australia’s largest IVF providers, is investigating a possible data breach after suspicious activity was detected on its network. The company confirmed that an unauthorized third party had accessed its systems, but it is not yet known whether any patient data was compromised.
Genea, which has several clinics across Australia, said it was taking steps to protect information and restore its systems. Some servers were temporarily down to prevent further data breaches. The company said it was trying to minimize the impact on patient services and that if the clinic did not contact patients, their treatment schedules were not changed. However, some patients complained about a lack of communication with the clinic; ABC News reports that some did not receive test results in a timely manner due to service disruptions. Genea’s app for tracking cycles and accessing medical data was also unavailable following the incident. The company also experienced phone outages at several of its clinics in the days before the cyber incident. It is not yet known whether the incidents were linked.
Cyberattacks on healthcare facilities are common because they store valuable personal data that can be used for fraudulent purposes. Recently, an attack on one of the largest blood donation organizations in the United States disrupted the supply of donated blood. In the United Kingdom, a cyberattack on hospital pathology services in 2023 caused significant disruption to healthcare facilities.
Genea said it is continuing to investigate the incident and is working to restore the system. However, the attack on the healthcare facility demonstrates the need for the industry to strengthen cybersecurity to prevent the leakage of confidential information.
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