Australia to sue Singtel-owned Optus in court over 2022 cyber attack

AUSTRALIA: On Wednesday (22 May), the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) announced it is taking legal action against telecom carrier Optus, owned by Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel), over a cyber attack it faced in September 2022.

In September 2022, the second-largest telco in Australia suffered a massive data breach that exposed customers’ personal information, including home addresses, passport numbers, and phone numbers.

About 10 million Australians, 40% of the population, are Optus customers and could not use smartphones, broadband internet or landlines for much of the day of the breach.

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.

ACMA alleges that Optus Mobile failed to protect the confidentiality of its customers’ personally identifiable information from unauthorized interference or access.

As reported by Reuters, Optus stated it intends to defend the proceedings.

“At this stage, Optus Mobile is not able to determine the quantum of penalties, if any, that could arise,” the company said.

“Optus has previously apologised to its customers and has taken significant steps, including working with the police and other authorities, to protect them,” it added.

Optus has been one of Singtel’s largest overseas investments.

In November last year, Optus experienced a significant outage which affected almost half of the Australian population.

The interruption resulted in millions of customers and businesses being severed from services, creating a chain of disturbances that required almost 14 hours to resolve.

Following the incident, Ms Kelly Bayer Rosmarin, the CEO of Optus, has stepped down. Michael Venter, Optus’ chief financial officer later stepped into the CEO role.

In April, Singtel warned of a S$3.1 billion (US$2.28 billion) impairment hit and a net loss in the second half of its 2024 financial year, noting that about S$2 billion of the total impairment provision originated from Optus’ goodwill.