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The country’s second-largest telecom operator suffered a significant hack that may have exposed sensitive information about over 10 million of its customers, the company said on Friday. According to Optus CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin, a “sophisticated” adversary was responsible for a breach that gave hackers access to data on as many as 9.8 million consumers. Customers’ names, birth dates, phone numbers, and email addresses were among the information accessed, along with a small number of license and passport numbers.
According to the Singapore-owned company, no bank account information or passwords were stolen.
Although it is now unclear whether the attack was carried out by a criminal or state-based organization, Bayer Rosmarin said that no ransom demand had been made.
She added that authorities in Australia, including the police, were looking into the matter but that it was still too early to rule out any possibilities. We are still unsure of the identity of the attackers and their intended use of the material.
Nearly half of the country’s population is among those who could have been affected, and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission cautioned them that they might be vulnerable to identity theft.
“All Optus customers should take quick action to safeguard their accounts, especially their banking and financial accounts. In addition, you should keep an eye out for any strange activity on your accounts and be cautious of any contact from con artists “the watchdog reported.
