Optus has received support from elstra chair John Mullen and incoming CEO Vicki Brady in their remarks to the carrier’s annual general meeting.
Ministers in the federal government have frequently and harshly criticised Optus, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Minister of Government Services Bill Shorten, and Minister of Cybersecurity Clare O’Neil.
Mullen gave support to Optus after pointing out how unstable geopolitics “has transformed the threat picture and heightened the demands on our cyber defences and vital supply networks.”
Mullen stated, “May I just remark that it is simple for third parties to criticise businesses who have suffered severe cyber-attacks like what recently happened to Optus.
“However, let me be straight-forward and say that it is simple to be critical when you aren’t the one being attacked, and we should all avoid hubris since no one can ever be complacent and no organisation can ever be 100% sure that it is entirely protected and safe.
Mullen continued, “To combat the issue, industry needs to set aside competitive rivalry and collaborate constructively across industries, with the government, and with the community to safeguard Australia from this modern scourge. The threat and complexity of the attackers grow every day.”
He described it as “a tight line” between identifying clients, safeguarding them from fraud, protecting their privacy, and assisting law enforcement.
In light of technological advancements and the larger efforts being made in the area of trusted digital identification, Brady stated, “I believe that balance is feasible, and we look forward to working with the government on it.”
Brady stated that Telstra is “stopping unprecedented levels of malicious activity from reaching our customers, including calls and SMS, while at the same time supporting our customers to defend themselves and their businesses,” reiterating the need to safeguard the carrier’s networks and platforms.
