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Scrape Timestamp (UTC): 2025-05-14 16:34:46.776
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Australian Human Rights Commission leaks docs to search engines. The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) disclosed a data breach incident where private documents leaked online and were indexed by major search engines. Many of the hundreds of documents exposed online contained private, sensitive information, like names, contact information, health details, schooling, religion, employment info, and photographs. AHRC is an independent statutory body established by the Australian Government, with the primary role of promoting and protecting human rights in the country. It receives and investigates discrimination complaints, monitors compliance with international human rights obligations, conducts inquiries and research, and oversees related projects and initiatives. Although the organization does not have court powers, it receives complaints from the public and tries to resolve them through conciliation, while it refers unresolved cases to federal courts. According to an announcement published on the AHRC website, the breach impacts submissions between the following dates: A total of 670 documents have been exposed online and accessed between April 3 and May 5, 2025. While some documents already public personal information, others expose sensitive data that may be damaging for the individuals submitting it in the context of the topics AHRC deals with. The organization said the incident was not a result of malicious external attack, but more details will become available in a future update. Meanwhile, AHRC has requested the immediate removal of the indexed files from search engines and disabled all web forms to prevent a subsequent exposure due to underlying misconfigurations. A dedicated taskforce and investigation are underway, while the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) has also been notified. Those who are determined to have been impacted by this incident will be notified personally, and a helpline has been set up to offer support. Apart from the standard “watch out for scams or suspicious activity” advice, AHRC also lists links to mental health support platforms, indicative of the distress that such a data exposure may cause to affected individuals. Top 10 MITRE ATT&CK© Techniques Behind 93% of Attacks Based on an analysis of 14M malicious actions, discover the top 10 MITRE ATT&CK techniques behind 93% of attacks and how to defend against them.
Daily Brief Summary
The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) reported a data breach where hundreds of documents were leaked and indexed by search engines.
Sensitive data exposed includes names, contact details, health information, schooling, religious affiliations, employment data, and photographs.
This breach incident involved 670 documents accessed unlawly between April 3 and May 5, 2025.
AHRC emphasized that the data leakage was due to underlying misconfigurations, not a direct result of a cyber attack.
All web forms have been disabled by AHRC to prevent further data exposure; a dedicated investigation and taskforce have been set up to address the incident.
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) has been notified, and efforts are underway to remove the exposed documents from search engines.
Affected individuals are being personally notified and provided with mental health support links due to potential distress from the exposure.