Unknown cyber-criminals sent stolen information to the media to pile on pressure to pay a ransom. RNZ subsequently aired a scoop sourced from it before a court ordered all media to dump the dodgy data.
The Privacy Commissioner tells Mediawatch RNZ was unethical and he wants action – but RNZ insists the public interest was well served.
Waikato District Health Board’s operations were paralysed by the cyberattack back in May which took weeks to recover from.
To make matters worse, data including private medical records were harvested by the hackers who demanded money to hand it all back.
When they didn’t get a ransom, the attackers leaked data to the media in June and then put more stolen data online and told media organisations how to find it. Read more