Australia’s media regulator is taking legal action against telecom carrier Optus, owned by Singapore Telecommunications, over a cyber attack it faced in September 2022, the telecom operator said on Wednesday.
Australia’s No 2 telco, had in September 2022 faced a massive data breach which exposed customers’ personal information, including home addresses, passport and phone numbers.
Following the incident, the country’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called for tougher privacy rules to force companies to notify banks faster when they experience similar data breaches.
About 10 million Australians, 40 per cent of the population, are Optus customers and could not use smartphones, broadband internet or landlines for much of the day of the breach.
