Optus Hack: Personal Data and Protecting Your Info…

You might have been impacted or heard of friends and family who have been affected by the recent Optus Hacking situation. Optus has revealed that while financial information and passwords of its customers were not accessed, the breach did compromise names, dates of birth, email addresses, phone numbers and some ID documents including drivers licence numbers and passport numbers. Here are a few tips to stay on the front foot if you have been affected.

Passwords

We all know someone who duplicates passwords for all their various logins online. Trouble is that if any one of those logins is compromised then that can set off a chain reaction in unleashing a beast to the rest of your logins.

Strong passwords are an excellent first step in prevention. Passwords should be long and contain uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters. They should also be different for each of your main accounts, but especially for banking (including Paypal) and email accounts. Password managers apps can be useful to help you keep track of your various different logins and unique passwords.

A secondary prevention step is to add 2 factor authentication to your most important logins (banking, emails, work). This additional step often requires an app, use of codes or an email/sms code confirmation before access if provided.

Incoming Messages, Emails, Phone calls –  Links requesting Information

Given that customers’ phone numbers have been breached, Optus has advised that it will not send out any emails or texts with links to click on.

If you receive an email from someone suggesting they are Optus (or anyone else for that matter), don’t click on any link it may have, even if you believe it to be completely legit. The same goes for phone calls where people might ask for access to your computer or personal information — do not provide them with any information.

If you have received any updates that you think might be real, go to the published number (online or on your credit card) for that provider and call them to confirm whether the correspondence you have received is legitimate.

Consider Updating Your ID

Though Passport and Drivers Licence numbers and not the entire documents were compromised, it’s possible to update your Drivers Licence or Passport for added reassurance.

Vicroads have set up a secure form to request an update to your Drivers Licence. If you require an update for your Passport, it’s worth considering any potential travel dates before embarking on an update with the long delays that are being experienced with the Passport Office.

Identity Monitoring Service

There are professional services which can monitor for any suspicious activity in your accounts, or with your emails and personal documents. Optus has also offered to provide some customers who they believe are at a higher risk with access to Equifax.

For any further info or advice in regards to keeping your personal data secure don’t hesitate to get in touch.