Category: Clare O’Neil

Australian Government Considers Outlawing Ransom Payments to Hackers

Australia may soon introduce new laws that ban local companies from paying ransom to hackers if they fall victim to data breaches. Speaking to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Insiders program on Nov. 13, Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said the federal government was considering whether it was necessary to make ransom payments illegal following the…


Medibank Hacker Demanded US$10 Million for Ransom After Releasing Customers’ Details

The alleged hacker behind Medibank data breach has demanded US$10 million on not releasing more customer’s personal information after posting 200 users’ health data on dark web. On early Thursday morning, the hacker posted a message on a dark web blog linked to the REvil Russian ransomware group, claiming: “Society ask us about ransom, it’s…


Medibank Hackers Begin Releasing Customer Data After Ransom Deadline Passed

The hacking syndicate behind the Medibank cyberattack has followed through on its threat to release the personal details of nearly 10 million Medibank customers after the company refused to pay the ransom. Personal data, including names, addresses, dates of birth, phone numbers, email addresses, Medicare numbers for ahm health insurance customers, some passport numbers for…


Australia Immigration Visa System Broken: Minister

Australia’s Home Affairs Minister has said the country’s immigration system is broken and potentially subject to criminal exploitation. Speaking to ABC Radio on Nov. 7, Home Affairs and Cyber Security Minister Clare O’Neil, when asked if she thought the current visa immigration system was broken and being used to commit crimes like sex slavery and human…


Australia’s Immigration Visa System Broken: Minister

Australia’s Home Affairs Minister has said the country’s immigration system is broken and potentially subject to criminal exploitation. Speaking to ABC Radio on Nov. 7, Home Affairs and Cyber Security Minister Clare O’Neil, when asked if she thought the current visa immigration system was broken and being used to commit crimes like sex slavery and human…


Australia Falls Behind in Cyber Security: Australian Minister

Australian Cyber Security Minister Clare O’Neil has admitted that the country is in a bad position in the fight against cyber-attacks following the latest data breach at private health insurance provider Medibank. This comes as up to four million Australians now face the risk of having their personal information stolen. According to Medibank, the alleged…


Australians Worry About CCP Access to TikTok Data: Poll

An overwhelming majority of respondents are concerned about Beijing being able to access Australian users’ personal information through TikTok, a poll has found. Victorian Liberal Senator James Paterson commissioned pollster Tele Town Hall last week to survey attitudes toward TikTok among nearly 630 people in the northern Melbourne constituency of McEwen and over 1,200 people…


CyberHacker Releases 10,000 Optus Customer Details, Demands $1 Million Cyber Ransom

The hacker claiming to be behind the cyber attack against Optus has released 10,000 customer records and threatened to leak more if the Australian telecommunication giant refuses to pay them US$1 million in cryptocurrency.   The user known as “OptusData” has stolen the personal records of 9.8 million Australians including details such as driver licence,…


Australian Home Affairs Minister Criticised Telco Giant Optus for Major Data Breach

Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil has called on Australian telecommunication giant Optus to take responsibility for the recent massive data breach and provide free credit monitoring to millions of customers impacted. She noted that a security breach of this size shouldn’t be expected in a large telco provider and said that it will “result in…


Australian Government Considers Abolishing Immigration Program for Wealthy Foreigners

The Australian government is considering scrapping an immigration program for international investors with high net worth as it reviews the country’s migration system. Under the significant investor visa (SIV), foreign investors can considerably shorten their visa processing time with a minimum investment of $5 million (US$3.4 million). This visa allows applicants to live and carry…