Government flags new cybersecurity laws and increase in fines after Optus breach

Clare O’Neil says penalties for telcos are ‘totally inappropriate’ and data breach was ‘significant error’

• Optus data security breach: what should I do to protect myself?
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The Albanese government will pursue “very substantial” reforms in the wake of the massive Optus data breach, including increasing penalties under the Privacy Act that are currently capped at $2.2m.

As the government flags it will push ahead with legislative changes, hundreds of public servants from the Australian Signals Directorate, the Australian Cyber Security Centre and the Australian federal police were deployed to help manage the fallout from the data breach, with the government also working with banks to prevent further fraud.

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