Australia has used new powers to sanction Russian operative Alexander Ermakov after he was found to have been the mastermind behind the Medibank hack in 2022.

Monash University Professor of Cyber Security Nigel Phair says intelligence suggested the hacker is still in Russia, but Australia’s powers to actually arrest him are limited.

“We believe he’s (still) in Russia and the government has put a travel ban on him,” he told Tom Elliott on 3AW Drive.

Click PLAY to find out more about the Russian hacker on 3AW

“We get no cooperation out of the Russian police or the state itself (so we can’t arrest him).”