Australia plans privacy overhaul after huge telecom data leak

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says reforms would permit banks to ‘shield their prospects’.

Optus has revealed that the private particulars of as much as 10 million customers was compromised in one of many largest information breaches in Australian historical past [File: Mark Baker/AP]

Australia will overhaul its privateness guidelines to permit banks to be told of knowledge breaches within the company world, following an enormous leak of private data from the nation’s second-biggest telecom.

Talking on native radio on Monday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stated the hacking of No 2 telecom Optus was a “enormous wake-up name” that necessitated reforms that will alert monetary establishments to cyberattacks and permit them to “shield their prospects.”

Beneath the deliberate modifications, companies could be required to alert banks of knowledge breaches involving prospects in order that lenders may monitor their accounts for suspicious exercise.

Cybersecurity Minister Clare O’Neill stated over the weekend that particulars of what “steps have to be taken sooner or later” could be introduced within the coming days.

Optus disclosed final week that the private particulars of as much as 10 million customers might have been compromised following one of many largest information breaches in Australian historical past.

The service, which is owned by Singapore Telecommunications, has stated the compromised data consists of names, addresses, dates of beginning, cellphone numbers, electronic mail addresses, and driver’s licence and passport numbers.

A self-identified hacker has since posted messages on-line threatening to show data obtained within the leak until Optus pays a ransom of $1m in cryptocurrency.

Though Optus has not recognized who's behind the cyberattack, the telecom has stated the attacker’s IP tackle could be traced to numerous international locations in Europe.

Trevor Lengthy, a know-how business analyst primarily based in Sydney, stated the proposed reforms didn't go far sufficient.

“Clients are indignant, they're speaking about leaving Optus, and we nonetheless don’t actually know the scale of the problem as Optus will not be releasing numbers,” Lengthy informed Al Jazeera.

“The federal government must put in place a easy credit-blocking mechanism for folks to make use of to show off the flexibility for credit score to be utilized for below their title. Flip it on once you desire a mortgage or bank card, flip it off once you don’t. That off swap successfully cuts off any fraudsters on the first hurdle.”

The information breach at Optus is the most recent in a string of cyberattacks this month involving main firms, together with Samsung, North Face, American Airways and Uber.