Optus hacked

[springyzone]

Is anyone here affected by the Optus hack?

We are not, but my daughter received a communication from them to say her bank details & passport details & also licence details I think, had been stolen.

The annoying thing is she is not with Optus. She has not been with Optus for almost 6 years. Why, then, do they still have all her records on file? Very annoying.

[papermoon.lady]

Sadly, data breaches have been happening for a long time if you look at the statistics here:

https://haveibeenpwned.com/

[papermoon.lady]

https://www.upguard.com/blog/biggest-data-breaches

[janeababe]

@dom, 

if you have tiktok, ( if not, ask one of you fb friends who has tiktok, send you a link 😉) to just how easy it is to find out personal info just from fb data. Even if your account is set to private. 
There is one woman in particular who is a super sleuth. She finds out everything about you, phone numbers, address, your work, where your kids go to school etc etc ….. it’s scary just how lax and free we are with our info. 

We are too complacent. Even when we think we’re not! 

I also have to agree with Mussolini…… You gave out a trove of details. 

Also, if a hacker sets up a spoof account and sends out friends requests, all it needs is one to accept the request and then they have access to all your details about you, access to your contacts list, your personal details in your fb account etc…. Email, phone number etc. ….once they have that, it’s open slather. 

I won’t use free wifi. I use either my own data or my mini wifi modem.  In reality it probably doesn’t make a scrap of difference, but ignorance is very blissful, isn’t it😉🤔😘

[domino-710]

I gave out nothing - only the devices I use.

A phone - never connected to the net.

A PC- used for only business.

A tablet - used for fun.

I didn't think it necessary to point out - those that are connected to the net are not on the same - provider.

Ever heard of a Nighthawk - totally separate.

And as you well know - very little on FB - no tik thingy - no instagram - or any other social media - and as far as friend requests - nup.

Just interested what details.??

[janeababe]

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@domino-710 wrote:

Messenger is an App.

yes, but it needs wifi connection to work. 

It can be used to call friends on FB - no telephone number required - or if someone is not a friend on FB - through a telephone number.

I only use it for friends through FB - no telephone number needed - no video (lol) I put a sticker over the camera - just in case my lippy is not straight.

 I now know you have an active fb account. 

The tablet is used for fun - never shopping - never banking - etc - cost around $300.

Used for fun… fun equals games…. Games are easy to hack with a virus, or tracker to get passwords. Most people will often use the same pw over multiple devices and apps/programs. 

My phone is now I don't know how old - never connected - only used for calls - SMS. $80 - $20 Plan a month.

old phone, less security, easy to gain contacts info. 

The PC - only used for business - and paranoid enough to everytime I bank or shop - Disk Clean - Defrag - Live Update Norton - Scan Norton - then go. $600 - not sure how old it is now.

you have a business. This will be the device you do your banking on. Most likely connected via a landline wifi modem. You said you don’t know how old it is, so that tells me that it’s possibly over 5yrs, which means less secure, slower to update, so technically, actually connected to the internet for longer periods of time.  You run Norton. (I personally wouldn’t own Norton if my whole pc life depended on it!) This device is actually the most vulnerable imo. 

Landline also - still used by friends.

All up nowhere near the cost of a decent Laptop or Smart Phone.

What cost on one’s personal info? 🤔 still, even then, not entirely protected. 😉

Never used a QR code - ever - order and pay the old way - not even during Covid.

A few different baskets for the eggs - doesn't mean I'm safe - but less chance of getting caught - I think.

Can they hack - Pre-Paid - all one does is buy a sim - stick it in the phone - no info needed.???

Obviously, you haven’t bought a sim lately. Also, iPhones don’t have SIM cards anymore. 
but when buying a SIM card in Australia, you need to register it at purchase, usually your drivers license. 

Jane from my understanding - a credit card swipe is OK - to use the card number one also needs the CCV or whatever - the three or four digit number on the back.

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[domino-710]

A heck of a lot of assumptions there.

Games. LOL

[pensbuys]

optus emailed me and stated my info was hacked

[springyzone]

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@dontmissthese wrote:

I am not with Optus but can anyone who is remember ever being asked for a Medicare or passport number

when being ID'd over the phone.
I have never been asked for my Medicare Number or Passport Number when dealing with the bank over the phone.

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I am not sure why my daughter had to provide so much, I assume it was for 100 points of ID at some stage.

But licence, passport, medicare number... all hacked.

I don't profess to be any sort of expert on the internet but my impression is that things have changed in the last 15 years and whereas back in the past, being connected was a choice, these days it is assumed you have access and it is compulsory in some areas.

When my daughter was studying, some units of work in her tertiary course were only online.

Over the last 2 years  in teaching, she has had to do remote lessons, interviews etc

She went to the show (as I mentioned in an earlier thread) and tickets to it are only available online now.

And I think any online service, whether it is Optus, Facebook, ebay, the government etc can be vulnerable. But you'd hope that once details have been exposed, that places like Optus would hop to it to protect their customers past and present. I heard new licence numbers are going to be issued (at Optus' expense). Maybe they should be paying for new passports too asap.

[dontmissthese]

Why these sensitive details ( passport, drivers license & Medicare numbers ) were not at least encrypted is beyond me.
There is no excuse and Optus should be sued over this alone. 
As far as ALL credit reporting agencies are concerned there should be notifications sent whenever there are any applications for credit made.

[dontmissthese]

Why these sensitive details ( passport, drivers license & Medicare numbers ) were not at least encrypted is beyond me.
There is no excuse and Optus should be sued over this alone.

Once they have been used to ID an applicant they should have been deleted anyway.

I have NEVER been asked for DL, Passport or Medicare numbers when going through a phone ID process.

Let's hope that, ongoing, all sensitive data will either be encrypted or deleted once an application is approved.
Are you listening eBay ?
Especially you because I once had a 'deleted' email magically appear as my PayPal email address 4 YEARS after the supposed deletion.
If you are going to hoard data then at least encrypt it.