Australian Telecom Optus Exposes
Data Of 2.1 Million Customers
Contents
Summary Of The Attack
- On October 3, 2022, Australian mobile company Optus confirmed that a cyberattack last month had exposed the government identification numbers of 2.1 million of its customers.
- The Disclosure came following the leak of 10,000 Optus customer records, which included user information such as names, birthdates, home, and email addresses, phone numbers, and personal identification numbers.
- The threat actor had first tried to blackmail Optus by demanding a $1 million ransom in exchange for them not disclosing or selling the stolen data.
- The actual data breach appears to have been caused due to improperly configured security protections on an API endpoint, but still, there is no proper understanding in Optus of how the incident occurred.
What Happened?
On October 3, 2022, Australian mobile company Optus confirmed a cyber attack last month had exposed the government identification numbers of 2.1 million of its customers.
What Was The Impact?
The Disclosure came following the leak of 10,000 Optus customer records, which included user information such as:
- Names
- Birthdates
- Home
- Email addresses
- Phone numbers
- Personal identification numbers
14,900 genuine Medicare ID numbers were also compromised as a result of the incident.
How The Attack Happened
The actual data breach appears to have been caused by improperly configured security protections on an API endpoint, but still, there is no proper understanding in Optus of how the incident occurred or how to stop it from happening again.
Optus has hired Deloitte to conduct an independent external review of the company’s security systems and processes.
At least one number from a current, legitimate form of identification, along with personal data, has been compromised for about 1.2 million clients.
These customers have been contacted by Optus, and it has been suggested to take steps to update their identification documents.
Along with personal information, numbers related to expired IDs have been exposed to about 900,000 customers. Optus consults with authorities on what additional actions clients should take.
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The Ransom Demand
The threat actor had first tried to blackmail Optus by demanding a $1 million ransom in exchange for them not disclosing or selling the stolen data.
The hacker posted the personal information of 10,000 clients, including names, addresses, phone numbers, and dates of birth, on a hacking site after not being paid.
