HOT on the heels of the nationally high-profile data breach at telco Optus comes confirmation that a Hunter Region disability provider, Lifestyle Solutions, has also had its systems compromised by an apparently unknown assailant.
Lifestyle Solutions has defended its actions in the wake of the incident, but questions remain about the time it took the organisation to alert those whose details were understood to have been included in the hack of its data base.
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner says organisations in such situations should tell those involved as soon as possible.
It appears the Lifestyle Solutions breach took place in April, yet at least some of those whose personal details may have been scooped up in the attack were not told until the last days of August.
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While Lifestyle Solutions says it has no evidence that the stolen information has been used by another party, this does little to reassure those whose data security may have been compromised.
The potential for cyber crime was recognised from early on as a potential downside to the otherwise enabling technologies that most of us now take for granted in our everyday lives.
We still hear of the occasional physical robbery of a shop - and thieves will always try to get away with break-and-enters when they can - but the days of the big armed holdups and bank robberies seem thankfully behind us.
Instead, the big financial crimes are carried out by individuals or groups armed with high-powered computers and nefarious software that can steal more efficiently than any physical robber, using an array of tools seeking new weaknesses in a cat-and-mouse game with the authorities.
Six-monthly Australian government reports on "notifiable data breaches" show their incidence has doubled since 2019 to be close to 1000 a year nationwide, with health service providers, perhaps surprisingly, topping the most recent list of data breach victims.
October, as it happens, is officially designated as Cyber Security Awareness Month, and government agencies including the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner have various online resources to help people organisations and individuals manage the risks and threats around them.
We secure our physical possessions by locking our doors and windows, with good reason.
Our digital security is no different.
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