Australia to increase penalties for data breaches

Australia will introduce laws to parliament to increase penalties for companies subject to major data breaches, Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said, after high-profile cyberattacks hit millions of Australians in recent weeks.

Australia’s telco, financial and government sectors have been on high alert since Singtel-owned Optus, the country’s second-largest telco, disclosed on Sept. 22 a hack that saw the theft of personal data from up to 10 million accounts.

That attack was followed this month by a data breach at health insurer Medibank Private, which covers one-sixth of Australians, resulting in personal information of 100 customers being stolen, including medical diagnoses and procedures, as part of a theft of 200 gigabytes of data.