APVMA added to HWL Ebsworth breach list

The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) has confirmed that it was one of the federal government agencies impacted by the HWL Ebsworth data breach.

The news emerged via local outlet The New England Times on September 21. An APVMA spokesperson confirmed to iTnews that the report was accurate.

As with other organisations impacted by the breach, the impact on the APVMA is via documents held by the law firm; the authority’s own systems were not breached.

The authority told The New England Times that HWL Ebsworth provided it with a list of breached documents in June 2023.

“A second tranche of documents included in the breach was provided to the APVMA by HWL Ebsworth on August 1 2023," the authority said.

It said it is reviewing documents to identify which of them included personal information, adding that will continue to notify affected individuals where necessary.

The HWL Ebsworth breach came to light earlier this year; organisations that went public as affected included the Tasmanian government; a Regional Express subsidiary and Judo Bank; the NDIA and the Fair Work Ombudsman.

When he announced last week it was an “appropriate juncture to conclude” the government’s coordinated response to the incident, National Cyber Security Coordinator, Air Marshal Darren Goldie said “a total of 65 Australian government entities have been impacted, as direct clients of the firm through its legal and consulting services”.