Featured Story
AT&T struggles to defend open cloudiness of Ericsson deal
More than a year into the Ericsson-led rollout, there is very little evidence AT&T's radio access network is as multivendor and virtualized as the telco makes out.
The ACMA alleges that Optus failed to protect the confidentiality of its customers' personal information.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has filed a legal case against Singtel-owned Optus over a cyberattack in September 2022 that leaked the personal data of as many as 10 million customers.
Legal proceedings have been filed in the federal court with the Australian telecom regulator alleging that Optus "failed to protect the confidentiality of its customers' personal information from unauthorized interference or unauthorized access" as required by law.
In a stock exchange filing on Wednesday, Singtel confirmed the legal action taken by ACMA against its Australian business unit – adding that Optus Mobile 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.
It added: "Optus has previously apologized to its customers and has taken significant steps, including working with the police and other authorities, to protect them."
As the case is now before the Australian courts, Singtel said that Optus Mobile "will not be commenting further at this time."
Data breach made first major dent on Optus' reputation
The cyberattack that hit Australia's number two operator occurred between September 17 and September 20, 2022, compromising personal information, including customer names, street addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and passport details.
Singtel set aside $142 million Singapore dollars (US$101 million) to pay for compensation or legal action over the theft of Optus customer data.
Embattled Optus can trace its reputational troubles from this incident, which is considered one of the largest data privacy breaches in Australian history. Since then, the telco operator also faced a massive 14-hour network outage in November 2023, and it forked out a A$1.5million ($980,316) fine in March for large-scale breaches of public safety rules.
The cyberattack against Optus led the Australian government to enact a law that imposes tougher penalties for serious or repeated breaches of customer information, with companies that fail to secure their data facing fines of A$50 million ($33.2 million) or more.
A heavy toll
Optus' troubles have weighed heavy its parent company's finances.
Last month, SingTel warned of a second-half loss after announcing S$3.1 billion ($2.3 billion) in write-downs, mostly relating to its Australian unit.
Singtel said the biggest impairment provision was a S$2 billion ($1.47 billion) goodwill writedown against Optus, whose recovery value "was assessed to be below its carrying value."
"This reflected a range of factors including weaker prospects in the enterprise market, increased cost of capital and the softer macroeconomic outlook in Australia," it said in a filing.
Read more about:
AsiaYou May Also Like