September 26, 2022
Days after as many as 9.8 million Optus customers had their personal information compromised in a major data hack, the Coalition has called on the Albanese government to toughen penalties for cyber extortion.
Coalition home affairs spokeswoman Karen Andrews and cybersecurity spokesman James Paterson want Labor to sign on to a private members’ bill that would create new offences for cyber extortion and ransomware activities with a penalty of up to 10 years in prison.
First introduced to parliament by the former Morrison government in February, the legislation would create a new aggravated offence for cybercriminals who targeted critical infrastructure and essential services, with maximum penalties of 25 years’ imprisonment.
It would be an aggravated offence to buy and sell malware products to deal with stolen data, and law enforcement agencies would be allowed to freeze bank accounts to stop movement of criminal profits.
The Australian Federal Police has begun investigating the Optus hack. Individuals who say they have stolen the data are posting in online forums demanding $1 million for its return.
Optus has been criticised over its response to the hack.
The company notified customers and media of the breach on Thursday afternoon, almost 24 hours after “suspicious activity” was first identified on its network.
The compromised data stretches back to 2017, and Optus warned it might include addresses, phone numbers, driver’s licences and passport numbers.
Up to 9.8 million customers might be affected in a “worst case” scenario, chief executive Kelly Bayer said on Friday. Some customers have been contacted by the company warning they could be affected by the hack.
Ms Andrews and Senator Paterson said the bill was designed to make Australia stronger and keep Australians safer in an increasingly uncertain world.
“Australians need to be protected and this bill will focus on deterring cyber criminals through tougher penalties and the capability of law enforcement to seize the proceeds of cybercrime, such as cryptocurrency.”
