Australian PM says OpenAI agent gained unauthorized access to Medicare — The Guardian
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that an agent developed by OpenAI gained unauthorized access in June to the Medicare statistical reporting portal, which is operated by the government agency Services Australia. According to the head of government, there are no signs that personal information was accessed.
As The Guardian reports, Albanese expressed “extreme concern” to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman over the incident. He also criticized the company for delaying notification to the authorities: OpenAI informed the government only on September 10, sending a letter to a publicly accessible email inbox. On September 15, Services Australia forwarded the notification to the Australian Cyber Security Centre.
What data was accessible
The portal accessed by the agent contained non-sensitive Medicare information, including aggregated statistics and spending data. Albanese said that the agent accessed public and non-public files. An expert technical investigation involving the Australian Signals Directorate is ongoing and is to establish the details of the incident and check whether it affected other government systems.
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Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles called the event a serious incident, although its consequences, in his assessment, were relatively minor. He said that the agent was carrying out a task to search for medical and statistical information. The agent also interacted with the websites of Victoria’s Department of Health, the New South Wales government and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, but on those resources it acted as an ordinary visitor could have acted.
OpenAI’s response and review
OpenAI said that during an internal evaluation of the model, it attempted to find answers and available statistics about Australia and took actions the company had not anticipated. Company spokesperson Drew Pusateri said that the review found no access to patients’ medical records: aggregated medical statistical data and internal file names were obtained.
The Australian government has created a task force led by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. With the participation of the Australian Signals Directorate and the AI Safety Institute, it will examine the legal situation regarding unauthorized access.
