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A probe into the major cyber attacks on Medibank and Optus has been launched by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
The secret investigation was launched last year with the resultant report being delivered to Albanese and cabinet secretary Glyn Davis in November.
Until now, the probe has been kept under wraps, with only a small circle aware of its existence. Albanese is still considering the findings.
The probe, headed by former secretary for the department of infrastructure and regional development Mike Mrdak, evaluated the government’s response to the major hacks.
This included exploring how the government could best optimise communication processes to ensure that news of the breach reached the privacy commissioner sooner, as well as identifying ways in which cyber teams and processes could be better coordinated.
The report follows several opposition MPs criticising the Albanese government’s response to the hacks, with Liberal leader Peter Dutton saying that Cybersecurity Minister Claire O’Neil has been absent.
“Nine or 10 million people have had their data, their personal information potentially compromised. We don’t know much more detail than that because the minister Claire O’Neil is missing in action,” he said in an interview with Sky News.
A total 9.7 million current and former customers from Medibank and AHM, and 11 million from Optus were affected in the recent breaches.
In response to the major attacks on Medibank and Optus, O’Neil called for a number of reforms as part of her efforts to make Australia the most cyber-secure country in the world by 2030.
The reforms, which come as part of Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus’ review of the Privacy Act, provide the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner greater power in controlling what information private businesses hold and share.
The penalties for companies who suffer serious or repeated breaches have also been increased from a maximum of $2.2 million to whatever is the most of the following:
In addition, as part of O’Neil’s 2023–30 cyber security strategy, a task force to “hack the hackers” will be established.
The findings of the secret Albanese cyber probe are not publicly available at the time of writing.
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