Oxfam Australia is a secular association which is focused on development and assistance, it is an autonomous organization that operates within the broader framework of Oxfam Umbrella to eradicate poverty across Australia, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.
The company said in a statement on Thursday 4th of February, that they were informed about the data breach at the end of last week and that they immediately instigated an investigation to uncover the motives, origins, and damage incurred.
Oxfam Australia is investigating a possible violation of privacy after a threat actor claimed to sell their database on a hacker website. The dark web database sample contains email addresses, names, physical addresses, telephone numbers, and donation sums, which seems to be all legit data to customers. One of the records includes legal donor data from threat actor pooled sample data. Although it is still unknown whether any data has been compromised, it was revealed earlier this week that a threat actor was trying to sell a charity database. Forensic experts were asked to help determine whether data were accessed and whether their supporters were affected. Oxfam Australia said they are currently undertaking investigations into the breach and have reported the infringements to the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) and Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).
"Late last week, Oxfam Australia was alerted to a suspected data incident. Oxfam immediately launched an investigation and engaged market-leading experts to assist in identifying whether data may have been accessed and any impact on its supporters."
Chief Executive Lyn Morgain said, “Oxfam Australia had reported the matter to the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) while continuing to investigate the suspected incident.”
In order to warn them of the alleged violation, Oxfam contacted supporters and stakeholders. Although no official confirmation was issued for the cyber-attack, an information violation has probably occurred based on the threat actor details.
In these regards, all contributors and registered users on the Oxfam Australia platform need to update their passwords. They also need to change it if they use the same password on other pages. Threat actors may also use the data suspected to conduct targeted phishing attacks in that database. Both donors can watch for phishing attacks from Oxfam and submit additional personal details.
Morgain added that “We are committed to communicating quickly to our supporters once the facts have been established, and we will provide updates as we learn more.”