40% of Australia’s population might have had their personal data stolen in Optus’ data breach
Information possibly obtained by the bad actors involved includes the names, birthdates, home addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, driver’s license numbers, and passport numbers of those in the database. All that is known about the data breach is that it originated from an off-shore entity. Optus CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin said that she was sorry and angry about the cyber attack. The company said yesterday that it is trying to reach “all customers to notify them of the previously announced cyberattack’s impact, if any, on their personal details.”
Optus keeps its customers informed via Twitter
“We will begin with customers whose ID document number may have been compromised, all of whom will be notified by today,” Optus said in a statement. “We will notify customers who have had no impacts last. No passwords or financial details have been compromised.” The “sophisticated hack,” as the data breach was referred to by Optus, did not seem to affect corporate customers.
Authorities are investigating a possible lead. The Sydney Morning Herald published a story yesterday stating that Optus received a blackmail threat demanding that it pay $1 million in cryptocurrency or else the hackers would sell the personal information belonging to millions of customers. The Australian Federal Police told Reuters that it is aware of reports that on the “dark web,” and through other sources, Optus customer data and other “credentials” are available for purchase.
Optus subscribers should look over their accounts for odd or suspicious activity
The tweet said, “While we are not aware of customers having suffered any harm, we encourage you to have a heightened awareness across your accounts, including looking out for unusual or fraudulent activity, as well as any notifications which may seem odd or suspicious.” Optus currently has about 5.8 million active users which amount to 21% of Australia’s
population. Telstra is the largest wireless provider in the country with close to 20 million subscribers.
Emm added, “Nevertheless, customers should be on the alert for any fraudulent activity they see and should protect their online accounts with unique, complex passwords and using two-factor authentication.”
