Health insurer Accuro says 30,000 customers’ data potentially exposed in hack

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Health insurer Accuro says its customer data could have been exposed in a cyber attack.

The Wellington-based firm has around 30,000 customers, chief financial officer Joe Benbow told the Herald.

“Accuro’s external IT infrastructure provider has been the victim of a cyber attack that has prevented access to a number of our core systems,” the firm says in a statement on its website.

Benbow wouldn’t name the provider.

“At this stage, we have no evidence that any Accuro data has been compromised, but we cannot rule out this possibility,” the CFO said.

He would not confirm or deny if a ransomware threat was involved.

The company warns its phone service is currently limited and is asking customers to email info@accuro.co.nz instead.

“Our IT provider is working with their own forensic experts and Government agencies to understand the nature and extent of the impact. We have also notified the relevant regulatory authorities including the Office of the Privacy Commissioner,” Accuro says on its website.”

Accuro is the latest provider to be hit after a string of cyber-attacks that included a hack on central North Island provider Pinnacle Midlands Health Network in October and the earlier ransomware attack on the Waikato DHB. Pinnacle updated this afternoon that it is still in the process of trying to identify affected patients.