You've been exposed by the Optus and Telstra data breaches - what now?

Less than two weeks after 9.8 million Optus customers had their personal information stolen, Telstra has also suffered a data breach. Although Telstra maintain they themselves weren't hacked, but instead a third-party which offered a rewards program for staff, the breach has still affected 30,000 current and former employees.

If you've been impacted by one of these breaches and are feeling confused, scared or anxious about the possible ramifications, don't panic. There are actionable steps you can take to secure your most important details. We've put together a list of steps you can take right now to protect your accounts, identity and finances.

1. Change your account(s) login details

It's of vital importance that you update all accounts with the same login details. This means any account using the same (or even similar) email, username or password. This is especially true of any accounts connected to financial institutions including banks and any third-party payment systems like Zip Pay, Afterpay or PayPal.

2. Update your email password/passphrase

We advise updating your email password and any other accounts that use the same email and password combination that you used for your Optus account. Choose a strong password with multiple lowercase, uppercase and special characters. Passphrases are a sentencelike string of words or other text. As they are longer than traditional 16 character passwords, they are much harder to crack and provide a higher level of security.

3. Enable multi or two factor authentication

Most apps and accounts provide the option to enable multi or two factor authentication. Check within your account or app for the option to enable it (this can usually be found within the Account, Password, or Security settings). Multi or two factor authentication provides an extra layer of password and login protection. With MFA or 2FA enabled, in order to successfully login and access your account you will need to supply a confirmation code/PIN that is generally sent to your personal device via text, email or both. It’s important to enable multi or two factor authentication because cyber criminals will not be able to proceed past the authentication method even if they have the stolen password and email combo for your account. Plus, you will also most likely receive a notification of the attempted login so you can track suspicious activity on your account!

4. Place limits on your bank account

Place smaller limits on your bank account until you can confirm your bank or login details were not compromised. This will prevent cyber criminals from moving large amounts of money out of your account.

5. Monitor for suspicious or unusual activity

Keep an eye out for suspicious purchases, login attempts, emails, or other unusual activity across your accounts.

6. Watch out for scams

Optus has advised customers to only contact the company via their app or official phone number. Scammers may impersonate affected organisations and target customers via email or text, so be wary of any correspondence that claims to be from Optus or Telstra – particularly if they are asking you for money or to provide personal information.