Australia to change privacy rules after Optus cyber attack

Australia: After hackers targeted Optus, the country's second-largest telecoms firm, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the country will change privacy rules to make sure companies that have experienced cyber-attacks notify banks.

Last week, Optus, owned by Singapore Telecoms Ltd, said that the home addresses, drivers' licences and passport numbers of up to 10 million customers, or some 40 percent of Australians, were compromised.

The company didn't reveal how it was breached, but it said the attacker's IP address, or unique identifier of a computer, appeared to move between countries in Europe.

Australian media reported an unidentified party demanded $1 million in cryptocurrencies in an online forum.

Albanese stressed that the incident was a huge wake-up call, adding that some states and criminal groups wanted to access people's data.

Albanese said in an interview with 4 BC that they want to make sure that they change some privacy provisions so that people can know, so that they can protect their customers. Cybersecurity Minister Clare O'Neil said Optus was responsible for the breach and told parliament: One important question is whether the cyber security requirements that we place on large telecommunications providers in this country are fit for purpose. Optus said it would give customers free credit monitoring and identity protection with credit agency Equifax for one year, but it didn't say how many customers will be offered this benefit.

In 2020 Australia said it would spend $1.1 billion over the next decade to strengthen its cyber defences.