Optus customers affected by the data breach will be contacted on whether they need to apply for a replacement driver’s license in the coming days.
NSW Minister for Customer Service Victor Dominello confirmed Optus will notify people if their license number was stolen, after the hacker behind the cyberattack released the personal details of 10,000 customers on Tuesday morning.
“Firstly I am sorry it has taken several days to reach this landing. People are understandably stressed and need a pathway forward,” Mr Dominello tweeted.
“I can confirm Optus will contact customers in coming days to confirm whether or not they need to apply for a replacement driver licence.”
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Customers affected by the data breach will be advised to head the Service NSW app to apply for an interim card number.
A new plastic licence card will then be issued within 10 business days.
The cost to apply for a new card is $29 and will be charged by Service NSW, but Mr Dominello said customers will be reimbursed by Optus in the coming days.
“The NSW Government will provide further advice to impacted customers as more information comes to light,” Mr Dominello said.
“In the interim, I would appreciate your feedback about your experience as an affected customer to date – I will continue to monitor as issues evolve.”
NSW customers who need support regarding the replacement of identity documents and advice on preventative actions are encouraged to contact ID Support NSW on 1800 001 040.
The hacker behind the Optus data breach released 10,000 customer records and pledged to continue leaking private information if the telecommunications company does not pay AUD$1.5 million in Monero cryptocurrency.
The suspected hacker, known only as “OptusData”, released a statement on Tuesday, demanding the ransom payment.
Just hours later, the account apologised to Optus and to the more than 10,000 Australians for the cyberattack as they claimed “too many eyes” were on them.
“Too many eyes. We will not sale data to anyone. We can’t if we even want to: personally deleted data from drive (Only copy),” the suspected hacker wrote in broken English.
“Sorry too 10,200 Australian whos data was leaked.
“Deepest apology to Optus for this. Hope all goes well from this.”
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