Australia flags new cyber security measures after massive hack of Telecom provider

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Australia flags new cyber security measures after massive hack of Telecom provider

On October 7, 2021, a customer waits for service at a Optus phone store in Sydney, Australia. MARK BAKER AP CANBERRA The Australian government has flagged new cyber security measures in response to a hack of one of the nation's top telecommunications providers.

Optus, Australia's second largest mobile network operator, has revealed that up to 10 million current and former customers have been exposed to a cyber attack, with 2.8 million people affected.

The attack was a sophisticated operation, according to Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil, refuted Optus' claim that the attack was a sophisticated operation, describing it as basic. She told Australian Broadcasting Corporation television in an explosive interview that we should not have a telecommunications provider in this country, which has effectively left the window open for data of this nature to be stolen.

On Monday night, the hacker released records of 10,000 customers and threatened to continue doing so until Optus pays a ransom.

O'Neil said on Monday that there were very substantial reforms to prevent further attacks and increase penalties for companies with poor security.

According to a Guardian report, fines under the current Privacy Act are capped at 2.2 million Australian dollars $1.4 million, a figure O'Neil said was totally inappropriate, noting that in other jurisdictions such a breach would result in fines of hundreds of millions of dollars. READ MORE: China is capable of tackling cyberattacks, exec says.

She said in the parliament that the breach is of a nature that we should not expect to see in a large telecommunications provider in this country.

I hope that this reform task is something we can work on together across the parliament.