Australia Phones Cyber-attack Exposes Personal Data
Optus cyber-attack exposes personal data
The Optus cyber-attack has exposed a huge amount of customer data. It’s not clear who was behind it, but the company has come clean about the breach. Information leaked includes customer names, dates of birth, email addresses, physical addresses and ID numbers. Optus says it will take steps to protect customer data in the future and is offering third-party monitoring services for customers at risk of identity theft.
Northern Territory’s cyber-attack exposes personal and business emails
The Northern Territory Government has revealed the details of the cyber-attack which exposed personal and business emails of thousands of its employees and residents. The hackers targeted a web-based corporate software system and a supplier. In the process, they forced the server to go offline. The attack also exposed personal emails of thousands of Territorians through a mass email sent by the Health Department. The emails were related to the government’s COVID-19 Territory Check-In application.
Melbourne high school students’ personal records hacked
Hackers have stolen personal information from a Melbourne high school, prompting the school to raise the alarm. The school is working with the police to identify the person responsible for the breach. The school’s information technology department has also contacted IT experts to find the hackers and remove the data from the internet. The hack is believed to have originated from a file-sharing site.
GeelongPort data breach
Geelong Port has been the victim of a cyber attack and has been forced to take steps to protect personal data. According to a statement posted on their website, an employee’s email account was compromised, exposing personal information of visitors to unknown third parties. The company is now working to make sure the incident doesn’t happen again and is working with IT suppliers to improve security.
Flight Centre Travel Group data breach
Flight Centre Travel Group has suffered a major data breach that has exposed personal information of millions of customers. The airline has confirmed that the breach happened last month and that the personal data was accidentally released to third party suppliers. While the airline has not disclosed the number of affected customers or what information was exposed, it has revealed that passport details were among the data that was leaked.
Geelong Port’s servers breached by nation-state criminal group
It is highly likely that Geelong Port’s servers were breached by a nation-state criminal group. China has already embarrassed Australia over its Olympic installations in the East China Sea, as well as by attacking a number of non-government organisations, including film festivals that focus on politically-sensitive material. This attack is particularly alarming because China could use the data obtained to further its political agenda.
