Privacy & Cybersecurity

A judge overseeing several cases against Optus over a September 2022 data breach has raised the possibility of hearing a class action against the telco alongside new proceedings brought by the Australian Communications and Media Authority.

After an 18-month investigation, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner has lodged civil penalty proceedings against Medibank over its October 2022 data breach, accusing the health insurer of breaching the Privacy Act.

A judge has thrown out a self-represented customer’s lawsuit against non-bank lender Latitude Financial after he defaulted on court orders and refused to join tech giants DXC Technology and Crowdstrike to his case over a cyberattack that compromised 14 million customer records. 

A class action has argued Medibank cannot claim legal professional privilege over three Deloitte reports after disclosing them to reassure the market and customers after a massive 2022 data breach.

The e-Safety Commissioner has expanded its case seeking to have X Corp remove posts that depict a stabbing of a bishop at a Sydney church, arguing X could have done more to prevent Australian users, including children and VPN users, from viewing the videos.

Medicinal cannabis company Vitura Health has won its bid for orders restricting the access of a software partner to its IT systems after an alleged hack.

Optus has lost its appeal of a decision that found the telco could not claim legal professional privilege over a Deloitte report into a major data breach, with an appeals court highlighting the lack of evidence from former CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin.

The chair of the Medibank board has given evidence that he engaged King & Wood Mallesons to commission expert reviews in the wake of a cyberattack, including three reports by Deloitte, after hearing rumours of class action investigations in October 2022. 

The Australian Communications and Media Authority has brought proceedings against Optus over a September 2022 data breach that comprised the data of up to 10 million customers, the first lawsuit filed by a regulator following a string of major cyberattacks over the past two years.

Consumers are “generally unaware” of the extent to which data firms and third parties mine and utilise their data, according to a report by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.