Australia's Optus contacts customers caught in cyber attack

FILE PHOTO: A woman uses her mobile phone as she walks past in front of an Optus shop in Sydney, Australia, February 8, 2018. REUTERS/Daniel Munoz/File Photo

(Reuters) - Australia's number two telecommunications company, Optus, said on Saturday it was contacting customers about a cyberattack that accessed personal details of up to 10 million customers, in one of Australia's biggest cybersecurity breaches.

Chief executive Kelly Bayer Rosmarin said on Friday she was angry and sorry that an offshore-based entity had broken into the company's database of customer information, accessing home addresses, drivers licence and passport numbers of the equivalent to 40% of Australia's population.