The Royal Women’s Hospital in Melbourne has notified 192 patients that they may have been victims of a data breach and have potentially had their personal details compromised.

The hospital states that it was not a cyberattack, rather a breach caused by a worker sending patient details to their personal emails to organise appointments and treatments from home.

The staff member’s private email was then hacked by cybercriminals and some of the patients’ personal details may have been accessed.

“We are taking this matter very seriously and apologise sincerely for any distress and inconvenience caused to affected patients,” a spokesperson said.

The hospital said that there had been no breach of the hospital’s official email or IT systems.

“Our patient’s medical records have not been accessed. Those are safe and secure in the women’s electronic medical record system.”

Affected patients were offered free counselling as well as support from cybersecurity experts.

The hospital is the latest in a string of Australian companies to suffer from a cyber breach, after Pizza Hut, The Guardian and the HWL Ebsworth law firm were each recently targeted by cybercriminals.

Photo: Royal Women’s Hospital Mel 1a by Commander Keane available HERE and used under a Creative Commons License. This image has not been modified.