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© Thomson Reuters 2022.Australia's Optus caught in massive cyberattack
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© Thomson Reuters 2022.
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Kobe White Bar Owner
Male photographer by any chance?
ulysses
China?
ratpack
10 million?? Wow! Over 1/3 of the aussie population.
Argus Tuft
Yay!
trickle down economics !
ian
Wow 40%!
Anyway why does a telecon company have the drivers license and passport numbers of the customers?
Matt Hartwell
Required by law
Which is now being questioned.
It should have been questioned about 15 years ago.....
ian
Thanks.
Occurred to me but thought it unlikely since then one has to have a driver's license or passport to get a number.
Strangerland
They'll take government ID as well.
Matt Hartwell
Has to be a Photo ID doesnt it. So really, a proof of age card is the only other option...
I dont think you can use a Medicare card exclusively? Thats about it for government ID's in Aus for most.
Desert Tortoise
Right now Optus ( why do I want to keep calling them Octopus ? ) is claiming the hack probably came from a foreign nation but probably not China. None of the cybersecurity firms I am familiar with are saying anything about the hack in public so for now we are left guessing.
What I find astounding is that Australia requires people to produce ID to get a phone number. That requirement is a huge invitation for cyber criminals or adversary foreign powers to compromise that data. I have never had to produce any kind of ID to a phone number.
Matt Hartwell
Its all due to the security community. They just want an easy way to identify somebody if they pick up a potential threat via their communications. Thats what they tell Australians of course.
I think the removal of requiring a photo ID is an obvious first step. That eliminates the need for drivers licence, passport etc. You can sitll identify people based on utility bills and other invoices with an address. You show your photo ID at the time of getting a new account with a non photo ID, but only the non photo ID is stored, if something must be stored.
Using a passport in particular should be the absolute last and unpreferred option.
But what about bank accounts? Require 100 points, which means your nearly always showing some form of very important ID to get a bank account.....