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Accenture to Acquire Australian Cybersecurity Firm CyberCX in $650 Million Deal

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Accenture (ACN.N) announced on Thursday that it will acquire Australian cybersecurity company CyberCX in what represents its largest-ever deal in the sector. The Australian Financial Review reported the transaction is valued at over A$1 billion ($650 million).

The deal highlights the growing demand for advanced cybersecurity services as businesses face increasingly sophisticated digital threats. Australia has seen a series of high-profile cyberattacks, including the 2022 Optus breach that exposed data of up to 10 million users, and a Medibank hack affecting nearly 10 million customers. In July, Qantas Airways also reported a breach of one of its call centres, impacting six million customers.

Melbourne-based CyberCX was created in 2019 through the merger of 12 smaller cybersecurity firms backed by private equity firm BGH Capital, which is selling the company. CyberCX employs around 1,400 staff and operates security operations centres across Australia and New Zealand, with additional offices in London and New York.

The company is led by John Paitaridis, formerly managing director of Optus Business, and Chief Strategy Officer Alastair MacGibbon, who previously served as Australia’s national cybersecurity coordinator. Their experience is notable given Optus’ 2022 data breach that compromised names, dates of birth, addresses, phone numbers, emails, and passport and driver’s license information.

Accenture has been actively expanding its security services, completing 20 acquisitions in the sector since 2015, including Brazilian firm Morphus, MNEMO Mexico, and Spain-based Innotec Security. Domestically, Accenture signed a $700 million collaborative agreement with Telstra in February to implement AI capabilities across the telecommunications company.

Qantas reveals cyber breach exposed personal data of over 5 million customers

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Australia’s Qantas Airways confirmed on Wednesday that a major cyberattack compromised the personal data of approximately 5.7 million customers, marking one of the country’s largest data breaches in recent years. Initially, Qantas reported 6 million records affected but later removed duplicates.

More than one million customers had sensitive details like phone numbers, birth dates, or home addresses accessed. An additional four million customers’ data was limited to names and email addresses.

The airline said there is currently no evidence that the stolen data has been publicly released, and it is actively monitoring the situation to protect affected customers.

“Since the incident, we have implemented several new cybersecurity measures to better safeguard our customers’ data and are thoroughly reviewing the breach,” Qantas Group CEO Vanessa Hudson stated.

This breach follows a wave of high-profile cyberattacks in Australia, including those against telecom giant Optus and health insurer Medibank in 2022, which spurred the introduction of mandatory cyber resilience regulations.

Qantas Contacts Cyber Criminal After Data Breach Affecting Six Million Customers

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Australia’s Qantas has confirmed that a cyber criminal reached out to the airline one week after a major data breach exposed personal information of six million customers. The breach involved a hacker targeting a call centre and accessing a third-party customer service platform containing sensitive details including names, emails, phone numbers, birth dates, and frequent flyer numbers, a Qantas spokesperson told Reuters on Tuesday.

The airline has engaged the Australian Federal Police in the investigation and declined to provide further details on the contact due to the ongoing criminal matter. While there is currently no evidence that the stolen data has been leaked publicly, Qantas is actively monitoring the situation with cyber security experts.

This breach marks one of the most significant cyber attacks in Australia since the 2022 incidents involving telecommunications provider Optus and health insurer Medibank, which led to the introduction of mandatory cyber resilience laws.

The incident poses a challenge for Qantas as it works to restore public confidence after its reputation suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic due to operational disruptions and criticism.