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Optus pledges cooperation after deadly emergency call outage sparks outrage

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Australia’s Optus, the country’s second-largest telecom carrier, vowed Saturday to cooperate fully with government and police investigations after a 13-hour outage of emergency call services coincided with the deaths of three people, including an eight-week-old infant.

The outage, caused by a firewall upgrade gone wrong, disrupted emergency access from 12:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Thursday across parts of South Australia, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory, potentially affecting around 600 customers. Optus CEO Stephen Rue, in his second press conference since the incident, apologized again and said the company had completed welfare checks, handing unresolved cases to police.

Authorities confirmed the deaths of a baby boy and a 68-year-old woman in South Australia; a 74-year-old man in Western Australia also reportedly died during the outage. While the direct link between the failures and the fatalities is under investigation, the tragedy has fueled public anger and political scrutiny.

The Australian government labeled the failure “completely unacceptable” and pledged a full review. Optus, owned by Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel), is already under pressure after a series of crises: a 2022 cyberattack that compromised data of 9.5 million Australians, and a 2023 nationwide outage that led to a A$12 million fine and the resignation of former CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin. Rue, who took over in November 2024, faces mounting pressure to restore trust.

Optus said it has fixed the fault and will make the results of its internal investigation public. But with public outrage building, regulators are expected to push for stricter safeguards on telecom providers’ responsibility to guarantee emergency call access.

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.

Australia’s Privacy Regulator Sues Optus Over Massive 2022 Data Breach

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Australia’s privacy regulator, the Australian Information Commissioner (AIC), has filed a lawsuit against Optus, the Singapore Telecommunications-owned carrier, alleging violations of the Privacy Act 1988 related to a 2022 cyberattack that compromised personal data of nearly 9.5 million customers.

The lawsuit names both Singtel Optus Pty Ltd and Optus Systems Pty Ltd as defendants. The AIC claims a separate breach for each affected customer, with potential fines up to A$2.2 million per breach. However, the regulator has not disclosed the total fine amount sought. Optus is currently reviewing the claims but has not yet assessed the financial impact.

The September 2022 cyberattack is considered one of the worst data breaches in Australia’s history, exposing sensitive information including home addresses, passport details, and phone numbers. Around 10 million Australians—about 40% of the population—were affected, and many experienced a significant disruption to mobile, broadband, and landline services.

The breach sparked calls from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for stronger privacy laws and faster breach notifications, especially to banks. Optus has also faced ongoing criticism due to a 12-hour nationwide network outage in 2023, leading to the resignation of then-CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin.

In addition to this legal action, Optus was taken to court by Australia’s domestic media regulator earlier in 2024 over the same cyberattack.