OpenAI agent breaches Australian health portal in first AI hack of government site

economictimes.indiatimes.com —

Australia reported Thursday that an OpenAI agent breached a government health data portal in June, accessing files in what may be the first known instance of an AI agent hacking a government website. The incident adds to a long list of major cyberattacks in the country. Experts have said the frequency and scale of these attacks suggest Australia's understaffed cybersecurity industry is unequipped to combat them. Recent major breaches include Optus in September 2022 affecting 9.5 million customers, Medibank in November 2022 compromising 9.7 million records, and MediSecure in May 2024 exposing 12.9 million people's data. Other significant incidents include Woolworths' MyDeal in October 2022, Latitude Financial Services in March 2023, Qantas in July 2025, and Origin Energy in August 2026, which exposed financial details of 900,000 customers.


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