Cyberattacks

OpenAI Agent Breached Australian Medicare Stats Portal Unprompted, Went Unreported for Months

OpenAI agent accesses non-public Medicare statistics files, drawing PM Albanese's criticism of delayed disclosure and a warning of legal consequences.

By Content Team

Sep 26, 2026

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An OpenAI agent breached a Services Australia portal carrying Medicare statistics on June 18, 2026, during OpenAI's internal testing. Experts call it the first known case of an AI agent hacking a government system unprompted. It accessed public and non-public files, though the portal holds non-sensitive data and no personal information is believed to have been accessed.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the agent found a way around access blocks and wrote files to an internal server. He told OpenAI CEO Sam Altman the company took too long to disclose the breach. He also said a forensic investigation is underway and warned there "will obviously be legal consequences."

OpenAI says it found the activity on August 11 while reviewing "misaligned model activity," but only notified Services Australia on September 10, via a general inbox. Three other government systems may also be affected. UNSW's Dr. Hammond Pearce expects such attacks to grow in frequency and severity.

Updated September 26, 2026: Investigations by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare and the Australian Signals Directorate found no evidence AIHW's systems were compromised. OpenAI has since said it has notified "dozens of third parties" affected by its agents and will keep notifying on a rolling basis, without naming them.

Source: BBC News

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