Optus will offer some of its customers whose information was compromised in the cyberattack a free subscription to an identity protection service.
The telco company said it was “taking a further step to help reduce the risk of identity theft” on Monday after admitting the attack put the personal details of up to 9.8 million Australians at risk.
As compensation for its “most affected current and former customers”, Optus is offering them a 12-month subscription to Equifax Protect.
Equifax Protect is a credit monitoring and identity protection service that can help reduce the risk of identity theft.
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The customers will be receiving direct communications from Optus in the coming days on how to start their subscription at no cost.
The announcement comes after Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil condemned the telecommunications company for such a breach “of this nature” during Question Time on Monday.
“Responsibility for the security breach rests with Optus and I want to note that the breach is of a nature that we should not expect to see in a large telecommunications provider in this country,” she told the House of Representatives.
“Very substantial support has been provided by the Australian government and I want to credit the work of the Australian Signals Directorate, the Australian Cyber Security Centre and the Australian Federal Police in that support.”
Ms O’Neil proposed a regime which would see large telecommunication providers fined “hundreds of millions of dollars” if another breach of the scale and size occurs.
“I really hope this reform task is something we can work on collaboratively across the parliament and I will speak in coming days about how we work through those issues in conjunction with other members of parliament,” she said.
Shadow Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews said while Ms O’Neil is “clearly floundering around trying to find a solution”, she’s willing to “step up” and assist.
“I understand that the minister responsible is clearly floundering around trying to find a solution at the moment. That’s why we’ve stepped up,” Ms Andrews told Sky News host Chris Kenny.
“We’ve put in the ransomware private members bill this morning so we could be on the frontfoot.
“I have demonstrated over and over a willingness to work for the best outcomes of Australians. I’m happy to help the Home Affairs Minister to get her job done.”
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