Australia updates law to protect data after Optus hack

By ROD McGUIRK
Associated Press

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The Australian government has announced changes to its telecommunications law to protect vulnerable customers after personal details were stolen in a major cyberattack on the nation’s second-largest wireless carrier. The government said in a statement Thursday that changes to regulations helps providers like Optus coordinate with other countries the detection and mitigation of scams and other malicious cyber activities. More than one in three Australians had personal data stolen when Optus lost the records of almost 10 million current and former customers including passport, driver’s license and national health care identification numbers in a hack discovered two weeks ago. Optus has run ads in Australian newspapers under the headline, “We’re deeply sorry.”