China News Service, October 12. According to the "Lianhe Zaobao" report, two Australian regulators have targeted the country's second-largest telecommunications company Optus (Optus) by a cyber attack, resulting in the leakage of the personal data of 10 million customers. Investigate.
Optus, the Australian subsidiary of Singtel, has come under fire from the Australian government and public for failing to prevent such a large-scale cyber attack after news of its customer data breach broke on 22 last month. .
The Australian Information Commissioner's Office said on the 11th local time that it was investigating whether Optus took reasonable steps to protect customer data and abide by the privacy policy.
The office said in a statement that if an investigation finds that any user's privacy has been compromised, authorities may compel Optus to take steps to ensure a similar incident does not happen again.
In addition, Optus could face fines of up to $2.2 million for each breach if it is found to be in breach of the country's privacy laws.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is investigating whether Optus complies with its obligations as a telecommunications service provider when it stores and processes customer personal data.
Australian Communications and Media Authority chairman O'Loughlin said in a statement that telecom service providers' failure to protect customer information "would have serious consequences for all those affected".
The Australian government has previously announced an overhaul of digital security laws to force companies hit by cyberattacks to notify banks of potentially affected clients; several law firms have also indicated they are considering filing a class action lawsuit.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission earlier told a parliamentary hearing that authorities received 600 calls a day from customers concerned about the Optus data breach, although not many had been scammed.