Australia blames telecoms giant Optus after massive hack

Outside a store of telecommunications giant Optus, here in Sydney on February 8, 2018. © Daniel Munoz / Reuters

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1 min

In Australia, the sky is darkening for Optus, this telephone operator which was stolen by hackers the personal information of its 9.8 million customers.

An attack that could have been avoided, according to the government which plans to reform its legislation on the protection of privacy.

In the meantime, Optus customers are called upon to be extra vigilant against fraudulent calls and messages.

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With our correspondent in Sydney,

After suffering the biggest data theft in Australia's history, the wrath of the government falls on Optus.

The attack began a few days ago, when the Home Affairs Minister, contradicting the CEO of Optus, declared that

was not " 

 " and that the company had “ 

 ”.

Subsequently, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced that Optus will have to pay for the replacement of the identity documents of customers whose passport and driving license numbers have been stolen.

And beyond this case, he also announced his intention to reform the legislation on the protection of privacy, which would not be adapted to the digital age, according to his words.

The reform intends in particular to greatly increase the amount of fines to which companies are exposed, in the event of negligence with regard to the personal data of their customers.

Even before these changes take place, Optus could be fined millions of dollars.

In the meantime, customers of the telephone operator are called upon to be vigilant, the authorities expecting an increase in emails and calls of a fraudulent nature.

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• Australia

• Telecom

• Internet

• Cybercriminality

• Anthony Albanian