Singtel’s Optus to defend proceedings by Australian authorities

SINGTEL’S Australian unit Optus Mobile has reiterated its intention to defend proceedings filed by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) over a cyberattack faced by Optus in 2022.

On Friday (Jun 14), Optus said it was aware of only about 10,200 customers having their personal information published on the Internet due to the cyberattack.

This is opposed to ACMA’s claim alleging 3.6 million breaches of the Australian Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act.

Optus said that at this stage, it was unable to determine the quantum of penalties, if any, that could arise from the Australian media watchdog’s proceedings.

“That is ultimately a matter for the Federal Court to determine,” said the second-largest telecommunications company in Australia.

“If a contravention is found, the court will consider a number of factors and apply a penalty amount it determines overall as appropriate based on the events that occurred. It is not necessarily a direct calculation based on the number of contraventions.”

Optus added that it has taken “significant steps”, including working with the police and other authorities, to mitigate potential harm to its customers affected by the 2022 cyberattack.

The telco previously announced on May 22 that ACMA had filed proceedings relating to the cyberattack on the basis that Optus had failed to protect the confidentiality of personally identifiable information of its customers from unauthorised interference, or unauthorised access.

Similarly, Optus said it intended to defend these proceedings.

Earlier in March, the Singtel unit was fined A$1.5 million (S$1.3 million) by ACMA for breaching public safety rules after it failed to upload data via its outsourced supplier, Prvidr, to the Integrated Public Number Database.

Shares of Singtel were trading S$0.01 or 0.4 per cent higher at S$2.57 on a cum-dividend basis as at 9.27 am on Friday, after the news.