- Patients were declared dead or renamed after a hack on New Zealand's MediMap platform
- MediMap manages patient medication in aged care, disability, hospice, and community health
- The breach exposed demographic data including names, birthdates, prescribers, and locations
Patients were declared dead, while some had their names changed to Charlie Kirk, the American conservative activist shot dead in 2025, after a massive security breach hit New Zealand's MediMap platform. Used by the aged care, disability, hospice, and community health sectors, MediMap is a real-time electronic charting system that allows staff to manage patient medication. Due to the hack, some aged care homes were forced to revert to a paper-based charting system for medications, making the exercise extremely time-consuming.
MediMap admitted to being hacked, saying its initial investigation indicated that demographic information, such as name, date of birth, assigned prescriber, location of care and resident status have been affected, according to a report in The New Zealand Herald.
"As soon as we became aware of the issue, we engaged specialist external cyber experts and placed the platform into maintenance mode as a precautionary measure to protect patient safety. Our focus is on helping facilities to provide continuation of care, and then on remediation and safe restoration," MediMap director Geoffrey Sayer said.
"Customers have reverted to their standard alternative manual processes to ensure patients continue to receive the required levels of care they should expect."
Founded in 2012 by Christchurch pharmacist Greg Garratt, MediMap originated from his desire to replace inefficient, paper-based medication systems. In April 2023, the company merged with the Australian healthcare software provider Z Software.
NZ PM Statement
It was the second major cyber attack on medical files and records in recent months, after Manage My Health was hit, prompting New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to issue a statement.
"It's concerning, particularly when it follows Manage My Health. It's a reason for why I've been advocating very strongly that we need to strengthen our cybersecurity laws here in New Zealand," Luxon said.
Associate Health Minister and Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour said incidents like these are happening all over the world, and “New Zealand cannot afford to be the weakest link”. The Ministry of Health and the Privacy Commissioner have also opened a probe into the incident.
