Medibank Australia has announced it will not pay any ransom demanded by hackers who have stolen details of 9.7 million customers.

“Based on the extensive advice we have received from cybercrime experts we believe there is only a limited chance paying a ransom would ensure the return of our customers’ data and prevent it from being published,” explained Medibank CEO David Koczkar.

“In fact, paying could have the opposite effect and encourage the criminal to directly extort our customers, and there is a strong chance that paying puts more people in harm’s way by making Australia a bigger target.

“It is for these reasons we have decided we will not pay a ransom for this event,” he concluded.

Medibank also revealed this morning that the hacker stole the name, date of birth, address, phone number, and email address for around 9.7 million current and former customers, and some of their authorised representatives.

This figure represents around 5.1 million Medibank customers, around 2.8 million ahm customers, and around 1.8 million international customers.