Security Incident
Hunter Dermatology recently experienced a cybersecurity incident on 15 September 2026 which involved an unknown third-party gaining unauthorised access to our reception email account (reception@hunterdermatology.com.au) and sent out phishing emails from that mailbox.
Potential receipt of phishing email
If you have received an email from reception@hunterdermatology.com.au on or around 15 September 2026 with the subject heading "Hunter Dermatology shared a folder with you", we recommend that you delete this email. Please do not interact with the email, click on any links within it, or open any attachments to that email.
If you have interacted with the link contained within the email, we recommend that you take the following actions:
Reset your passwords using strong passwords and enable multi-factor authentication for your accounts where possible.
Be on the lookout for suspicious activity including suspicious emails you have received, or emails sent from your account that you were not aware of. Additionally, never click on any links that look suspicious, and never provide your passwords or any personal, financial, or login information online.
If you would like further information about online safety, we recommend looking at the following websites for additional details on cyber security and helpful tips to protect yourself online:
Potential access to personal information
The mailbox does receive and send documents containing patient personal information, including:
Basic personal information,
Contact details,
Medicare details, and
Some health information.
As such, there is a possibility that personal information relating to you may have been within the mailbox.
While we know the third-party was able to gain unauthorised access to the mailbox, our investigation was unable to determine whether any personal information relating specifically to you was accessed or viewed.
Further, we primarily store confidential medical data in a separate system and that system was not affected by the incident.
What we have done
When we became aware of this unauthorised access, we took immediate action to remove the third-party and prevent any further access by securing the mailbox. This includes:
Engaging cybersecurity experts to investigate this incident and confirm that our mailbox has been secured,
Implementing additional measures to improve the security of the mailbox to prevent such unauthorised access in the future, including transitioning to a different email platform, and
Notifying the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, the Australian Cyber Security Centre, and all of our patients about the incident.
We take the protection of your personal information very seriously and apologise for any concern this incident may cause you. Thank you for your understanding at this time.
If you have any concerns or queries regarding this incident, we ask that you please email us at help@hunterdermatology.com.au and one of our dedicated team members will get back to you as soon as possible.