Singapore Telecommunications Optus’ Australian division earlier stated that it was now looking into the unauthorized access of client information. Because they had a cyberattack. Optus breach affects nearly 10 million clients.
The company acknowledged that it swiftly stopped the attempt and prevented the theft of clients’ account passwords and payment information. Optus confirmed the attacker may have had access to a small number of home addresses, license numbers, and passports.
Optus stated on its website “we are cooperating with the Australian Cyber Security Centre to reduce any risks to customers”.
According to publicly available information, Optus has 9.7 million members. Optus added that it also notified important financial institutions about the incident and consequent breach.
As stated in the statement, “While we are not aware of any customers having suffered any harm, we truly encourage customers to have heightened awareness across their accounts. These include looking out for unusual or fraudulent activity and any notifications that seem odd or suspicious.”
The attack’s technical specifics have not yet been made public. However, the intrusion might have been caused by a flaw in some security software, according to Drew Perry, CEO of the London-based IT consultancy company Tiberium.
The incident’s details are still developing, but Perry advised that all Optus customers both past and present should change their passwords right away and use multi-factor authentication if it is available.
The Issue
“Update all of your passwords and use a password manager if you use the same password for many accounts.”
According to the government, Optus users will now face a greater risk of phishing because their credentials probably used to only be available on the dark web.
It’s possible that they may be used to train an AI phishing bot to develop useful artificial media attacks. Passwords are very personal details that reveal a person’s character and can be used against them to gain money.
The InterContinental Inns Group cyberattack was targeted months before the Optus hack. After failing a ransomware attempt, a pair of purported Vietnamese hackers destroyed the data, which was then linked to the attack.
