Personal details of nearly nine million Optus customers are leaked in one of Australia’s biggest cyber attacks ever – here’s what the hackers know about YOU
Up to nine million Optus customers have had all their personal details taken in a major cyber attack, including their passport and licence numbers, email and home addresses, dates of birth and telephone numbers.
Hackers reportedly exploited a weakness in the Optus firewall, which is believed to be one of the biggest cyber attacks in Australian history.
Nearly 2.8 million customers had all their personal details taken attack, such as passport and drivers licence numbers, email and home addresses, dates of birth and phone numbers.
The remaining seven million had dates of birth, email addresses and phone numbers stolen.
Optus chief executive Kelly Rosmarin says the company is working with the Australian Federal Police to investigate the attack.
‘We are devastated to discover that we have been subject to a cyberattack that has resulted in the disclosure of our customers’ personal information to someone who shouldn’t see it,’ Ms ayer Rosmarin said in a statement.
‘As soon as we knew, we took action to block the attack and began an immediate investigation. While not everyone maybe affected and our investigation is not yet complete, we want all of our customers to be aware of what has happened as soon as possible so that they can increase their vigilance.
‘We are very sorry and understand customers will be concerned. Please be assured that we are working hard, and engaging with all the relevant authorities and organisations, to help safeguard our customers as much as possible.’
‘Optus has also notified key financial institutions about this matter. While we are not aware of customers having suffered any harm, we encourage customers to have heightened awareness across their accounts, including looking out for unusual or fraudulent activity and any notifications which seem odd or suspicious.’
More to come
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