The federal government has criticised Optus following the massive cyberattack that compromised millions of Australians’ data.
During a press conference on Sunday, Minister for Cyber Security Clare O’Neil and Minister for Government Services Bill Shorten slammed the telco for its slackness in handing over vital info to authorities.
“It is crucial that everyone who has been affected by this breach is properly notified,” O’Neil told reporters as per 9News.
“We would like Optus to be transparent about the number of people who have had specific identity documents compromised, and that information has not yet been provided.
“I would like Optus in particular to make sure that the 10,200 whose data has already been made available briefly online, know that [the breach] has occurred.
“Optus has advised that they have told those people… an email is simply not sufficient under these circumstances.”
“We are going to need to go through a process of directly speaking with those 10,200 individuals and Optus needs to take up the mantle here.
“We should not be in the position that we’re in, but Optus has put us here.”
Shorten denounced Optus’ “damage control” tactics.
“Now is not a time to listen to the lawyers and the damage control merchants,” he said as per 9News.
“The people really in pain are not the Optus executives. The people in pain are the 10 million people who’ve had their privacy breached.
“I acknowledge that they had a full-page newspaper ad in the paper on the weekend, but an ad is not a strategy. That is not a plan.”
This comment was in reference to the enormous ads Optus took out in newspapers over the weekend.
“We know Optus is trying to do what it can, but having said that, it is not enough,” Shorten continued.
“We don’t need this [information] tomorrow or the next day, we needed it days ago. We seek Optus to step up its communication and transparency with government.”
Bill Shorten “now is not a time to listen to the lawyers and the damage control merchants … the people who are really in pain are not the senior Optus executives”#auspol pic.twitter.com/90pMw3ZqWP
— Squizz (@SquizzSTK) October 2, 2022
Federal government is now publicly ripping Optus over response to the data breach, saying the company “needs to come together with the govt to be part of the solution”
Statement from Bill Shorten & Clare O’Neil claim Optus not cooperating with requests for more info pic.twitter.com/9ElOO7g16E
— Josh Butler (@JoshButler) October 2, 2022
Clare O’Neil and Bill Shorten say no information on customer caught up in the Optus data mess has been provided to Services Australia.
Services Australia wants info on credentials exposed, such as Medicare, Centrelink and concession cards.
— Tom McIlroy (@TomMcIlroy) October 2, 2022
If you’re an Optus customer and you’re freaking out about potentially being hacked, here’s what to look out for.
And zooming out for a hot second, there is one question that still looms large: where is Optus Managing Director Gladys Berejiklian in all of this?
Read our full investigation here.
