Medical technology firm EBR Systems on Wednesday said a cybersecurity incident detected in February may have resulted in unauthorized access to a small amount of personal health information.
The company said it became aware of a network disruption around February 13 that affected certain systems, triggering an investigation with the assistance of thi
rd‑party computer forensics specialists. It said it had to alert patients and post details on its website.
The incident underscores Australia’s growing exposure to cybersecurity threats, with the country seeing a sharp rise in data breaches and ransomware
attacks over the past five years, including at healthcare, financial and government‑linked organizations.
The review found that certain information stored on its network was subject to unauthorized acc
ss, though the company said its assessment remains ongoing and the volume of data involved appears limited based on the samples reviewed so far.
The incident did not cause any material disruption to EBR’s operations and is not expected to have a material impact on its financial results, the company said, add
ing that it holds cybersecurity insurance that covers costs related to the breach.
(Reporting by Roushni Nair in Bengaluru; editing by Vijay Kishore and Maju Samuel)
In the first outcome of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Fraud Initiative, IMB has agreed to about $17 million to settle charges related to the company’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices.
“Racial discrimination is illegal, and government contractors cannot evade the law by repackaging it as DEI,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche in a statemen
Watch More Image Part 2 >>>
t. He said the initiative, launched about a year ago, is meant to “root out this misconduct, hold offenders accountable, and end this practice for good.”
The Trump administration has repeatedly sought to rid DEI practices from public and private compa
nies, government, and educational institutions since taking office. The Justice Department has launched numerous investigations o
f companies under the False Claims Act, which allows to recover funds from fraud. About $8.2 million of the total will be paid in restitution, the DOJ said.
IBM’s settlement with the DOJ, announced April 10, focuses on its federal contracts. The DOJ s
aid these contracts require contractors to comply with anti-discrimination rules. DOJ said IBM
allegedly failed to comply and “knowingly maintain practices that the United States contends were discriminatory employment practices,” when it allegedly made employm
ent decisions with race, color, national origin, or sex in mind – including the use of a “diversity modifier” that affected how bonuses were achieved.
“When a company accepts federal funding while engaging in practices that sort, prefer, or disadvantage employees on the basis of race or sex, the company is st
epping outside the conditions under which the government agreed to contract with them, and we will hold them accountable,” added Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brenna E. Jenny.
