2 mobile operator, said last week that data of up to 10 million customers including home addresses, drivers' licenses and passport numbers had been compromised in one of Australia's biggest data breaches. The Australian federal government has blamed Optus for the breach, flagged an overhaul of privacy rules and higher fines, and suggested the company had "effectively left the window open" for hackers to steal data. Minister For Cyber Security Clare O'Neil said she was "incredibly concerned ... about reports that personal information from the Optus data breach, including Medicare numbers, are now being offered for free and for ransom", referring to the government's health insurance scheme. Optus Chief Executive Kelly Bayer Rosmarin said the incident had generated "a lot of misinformation" and the company took data protection seriously. "The Optus data has been stolen, and we can't trust this person.

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