Australia flags privacy overhaul after huge cyber attack on Optus

FILE PHOTO: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks at the Sydney Energy Forum in Sydney, Australia July 12, 2022. Brook Mitchell/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia plans to toughen privacy rules to force companies to notify banks faster when they experience cyber attacks, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Monday, after hackers targeted the country's second-largest telecoms firm.

Optus, owned by Singapore Telecoms Ltd, said last week that home addresses, drivers' licences and passport numbers of up to 10 million customers, or about 40% of the population, were compromised in one of Australia's biggest data breaches.