Australian telecommunication company Singtel Optus Pty Limited suffered cyber attacks and data breaches. The company said that the customers might have been exposing including their names, date of birth, phone numbers, email addresses and for a subset of customers, addresses, ID document numbers such as passport numbers and driver’s licenses.
Optus also adds, that not everyone is under cyber attack. Also, account passwords and payment details ‘’have not been compromised.’’ However, according to the company, the services ‘’remain safe to use and operate as per normal.
Devastated to discover
Kelly Bayer Rosmarin, CEO of Optus said that the company was ‘’devastate to discover’’ the cyber attacks. It has resulted in the disclosure of our customer’s personal information. She said the breach involves both former and current customers.
She said, “As soon as we knew, we took action to block the attack and began an immediate investigation. It’s just too early for us to give specific numbers. It is a significant number and we want to be absolutely sure when we come out and say how many [customers have been affected].”
“While not everyone is prone to the attack and our investigation is not yet complete. We want all of our customers to be aware of what has happened as soon as possible to increase their vigilance.
“We are very sorry and understand customers will be concerned.”
Personal details of 1.1 million customers offered for sale
Threat analyst Emsisoft Brett Callow shared screenshots on social media that purported to show a database of 1.1 million Optus customers’ details. Optus has notified the Australian Federal Police and is working with the Australian Cyber Security Center. Meanwhile, the company is contacting customers directly impacted by the process.
Ms Bayer Rosmarin said, “I can’t go into the details of the work, but we have a very committed cyber team who is doing everything they can to identify the scope and scale of what information has been accessing.”
Affected account holders should be notified soon, Ms Bayer Rosmarin said, adding that customers could take specific actions to ensure their own cyber security.
“Passwords weren’t compromised. So the main action for everybody is just to have increased vigilance. So that we can spot it and we can use the data to prevent it.”