Clive Palmer’s political entities, the United Australia Party (UAP) and Trumpet of Patriots, have experienced a data breach, as confirmed on June 23. This incident involved unauthorised access to their servers, which may have led to the theft and potential deletion of important data. The UAP referred to this event as a ransomware cyberattack.
The compromised data includes all emails exchanged by the parties, along with their attachments and other electronically stored documents. Personal information belonging to individuals, such as email addresses, phone numbers, identity documentation, banking details, and employment history, has also been affected. The party has cautioned that while they cannot definitively ascertain the extent of the information compromised, any data previously submitted to them may have been stored on their server.
Due to the lack of a comprehensive record of users on the server, UAP has determined it impractical to notify those impacted. Instead, they are focusing on securing their systems and restoring data from backups. They have urged individuals who have communicated with the parties via email to review the information they shared, as they may need to take precautionary measures.
The UAP has suggested that affected parties consider monitoring their bank accounts, changing passwords, employing multi-factor authentication, and remaining vigilant regarding identity theft. They have issued a formal apology for the breach and stressed that they are implementing measures to prevent future incidents.
This breach has been reported to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner and the Australian Signals Directorate.
Clive Palmer voluntarily deregistered the UAP in September 2022 and subsequently established the Trumpet of Patriots in February 2023 for candidates to participate in the federal elections, although the party did not secure any seats.