By Reuters | Updated: 28 December 2023
Dec 28 (Reuters) – Australian firms have suffered many cyber attacks since September 2022, putting the spotlight on the country’s understaffed cybersecurity industry that experts say seems ill-equipped to tackle such hacks, endangering sensitive information of people.
Here is a list of companies that have been hit by data breaches:
SEPTEMBER 2022
OPTUS
Australia’s second-largest mobile operator and a unit of Singapore Telecommunications (STEL.SI) was the first to report a data breach in September last year that affected up to 10 million customers, about 40% of the nation’s population. The exposed data included home addresses, drivers’ licences and passport numbers.
OCTOBER 2022
WOOLWORTHS
Australia’s biggest grocer Woolworths Group Ltd (WOW.AX) said in October last year its majority-owned online retailer MyDeal identified that a “compromised user credential” was used to access its systems, exposing email addresses, phone numbers and delivery addresses of about 2.2 million customers.
FORCENET
Australia’s Assistant Minister For Defence Matt Thistlethwaite said in October last year that hackers targeted a communications platform used by the country’s military personnel and defence staff with a ransomware attack but that no data was compromised.
DAILOG
IT services consulting firm Dailog, another unit of Singapore Telecommunications (STEL.SI), faced a cyber attack that potentially affected 1,000 current and former employees and fewer than 20 client, the company said in October last year.
AUSTRALIAN CLINICAL LABS
Medlab, a unit of Australian Clinical Labs Ltd (ACL.AX), one of the country’s largest pathology providers, suffered a breach in October last year that exposed data of about 223,000 patients.
TELSTRA
Australia’s largest telecoms operator Telstra (TLS.AX) in early October 2022 suffered what it called a small data breach, which exposed data of about 30,000 current and former employees dating back to 2017.
On Dec. 11, Telstra said 132,000 customers were affected by an internal error which led to the disclosure of certain customer details.
NOVEMBER 2022
MEDIBANK
Health insurer Medibank Private (MPL.AX), which covers about one-sixth of Australians, said in November last year that personal and significant amounts of health claims data of around 9.7 million of its current and former customers were compromised, forcing it to flag a hit to earnings and withdraw forecast for a key metric.
On June 20, Medibank confirmed that a file containing names and contact details of staff members had been compromised after its building manager faced a cybersecurity breach.
BWX
Skin and hair care products maker BWX Limited said in November last year a malicious code was “unlawfully” entered onto one of its websites that may have compromised credit card numbers and expiry dates of about 2,500 customers.
DECEMBER 2022
TPG TELECOM
Australia’s No.2 internet service provider TPG Telecom (TPG.AX) said in December last year it had been notified of unauthorised access to a hosted exchange service that hosts email accounts of up to 15,000 business customers.
MARCH 2023
CBA
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA.AX) said in March its Indonesian unit, PT Bank Commonwealth (PTBC), had been hit by a cyber incident involving unauthorised access of a web-based software application used for project management.
IPH
Australian intellectual property services provider IPH Ltd (IPH.AX) said it had detected unauthorised access to a portion of its IT environment, compromising information including administrative documents and some client documents.
LATITUDE
Australian digital payments and lending firm Latitude Group Holdings Ltd (LFS.AX) said in March a hacker had stolen personal information held by two service providers, compromising about 103,000 identification documents and 225,000 customer records.
On April 11, 2023, the firm said it will not pay a ransom to the hackers as it saw no assurance that the payment would result in the return or destruction of the stolen data, and it did not want to reward criminal behaviour.
MAY 2023
TECHNOLOGYONE
Australia’s TechnologyOne Ltd (TNE.AX) said in May it had detected an unauthorised third-party access to its back-office systems, becoming the latest target in a series of cyber attacks that has bogged companies in the country since last year.
JUNE 2023
SMARTPAY
New Zealand-based Smartpay Holdings (SPY.NZ) disclosed a ransomware attack confirming the theft of information from customers in Australia and New Zealand, making it the latest victim in a slew of cyberattacks in the region.
SEPTEMBER 2023
SHELL
Shell Plc (SHEL.L) said in September that it has identified a cybersecurity incident involving some employees who worked with its unit BG Group in Australia before the merger, becoming the latest victim of the MOVEit hack.
ENERGY ONE
Australian software supplier Energy One (EOL.AX) said in September it has not uncovered any evidence of malicious activity on its customer systems after the company identified a cyber incident in August. The company’s investigations found no evidence of compromise of personal information of its current and former employees, it said, adding that Energy One continues to securely trade.
DECEMBER 2023
EAGERS AUTOMOTIVE
Automotive retailer Eagers Automotive (APE.AX) said in December a cyber incident was impacting some of its IT systems at its operating locations across Australia and New Zealand.
The company was yet to determine the full extent of the incident, but has notified the cyber security centres in both countries, it said.
Thomson Reuters 2023
