Australia’s Optus hit with class action over cybersecurity breach
MORE than 100,000 current and former customers have joined a class-action lawsuit against Australian telecommunications giant Optus over a cybersecurity breach last year that compromised about 1.2 million customers, lawyers said on Friday (Apr 21).
Starting with the Optus breach in September, a spate of cyberattacks on Australia’s corporate sector exposed data from tens of millions of customers online.
This led the government to set up a new cybersecurity body and overhaul rules that the home minister called “bloody useless”.
A claim lodged in the federal court by Slater and Gordon on Friday alleged that Optus breached laws and its own policies by failing to adequately protect customer data and destroy or de-identify former customer data.
Optus will defend itself in the class action, said a spokesperson in an e-mailed statement.
Members want compensation for the time and money required to replace identify documents and for distress, frustration and disappointment caused by the breach. No amount was specified.
Claimants include a stalking victim who fears that her life has been put in danger. Slater and Gordon’s class actions practice group leader Ben Hardwick said the breach had potentially put vulnerable customers at risk of domestic violence and other crimes.
“Very real risks were created by the disclosure of this private information that Optus customers had every right to believe was securely protected by their telecommunications and Internet provider,” Hardwick said. REUTERS
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