Sensitive Victorian government data leaked on dark web

Rachael Ward | July 14, 2023

Highly sensitive Victorian government information stolen during a cyber attack on a top law firm has been leaked to the dark web.

The data was taken during a hack on law firm HWL Ebsworth earlier this year.

The Victorian government said it was aware a number of files had been released and was still in the process of working out the extent of the compromise.

“We have been advised by HWL Ebsworth that information affected includes highly sensitive documents from legal files with state government departments and agencies,” a government spokeswoman said on Friday.

“We know this could be a distressing situation for the people affected and we are working to notify all those affected as soon as possible.”

Victoria’s Chief Information Security Officer David Cullen said there had been no direct breach of the state government’s IT system.

He said the government expected all suppliers to maintain strong cyber security measures to protect data.

HWL Ebsworth has commercial and government clients in every state and territory. 

It has previously said it would not submit to the hacker’s demand for ransom.

Australia’s top cyber security co-ordinator Air Vice-Marshal Darren Goldie previously said several government entities had been impacted.

In June, the Tasmanian government said it had been contacted by the federal government about an “illegal release” of data stolen in the attack leaked on the dark web.

That was the same month hackers from Russia claimed to have published data stolen during the attack.

Anyone impacted can seek support from Australia’s national identity and cyber support community service, known as IDCARE.