These days, it feels like not a week goes by without some sort of data scandal or security breach making headlines. The latest one to do the rounds? Telstra.

According to reports, hackers have accessed and leaked the first and last names as well as work email addresses of 30,000 past and present Telstra employees on Breach Forum – which is the same platform where Optus' recent major security breach was posted.

However, reports suggested that the details that have been leaked date back to 2017.

In a statement released by a Telstra spokesman, the telecommunications giant confirmed the news, saying that the breach was only related to details handled by a third-party company that administers Telstra’s WorkLife NAB rewards program for their employees at the time.

It’s been reported that the data was first leaked last week on the same forum where the recent major Optus data breach that has rocked the nation was posted.

The telecommunications company was shocked by the ‘accidental’ data breach. Credit: Creative Commons/wpcpey.

However, a Telstra source said that the information had only been mistakenly published on the forum and contained details that were ‘no longer relevant’ and there was no personal identification contained in the information.

'It’s not a breach of an internal system ... it’s a platform we no longer use and haven’t used for a number of years,' they said.

'It’s old information from 2017, a lot of it wouldn’t be relevant.'

'It was posted to the Breach Forum last week as information a hacker has tried to sell off as new information.'

Alex Badenoch, a Telstra executive, also weighed in on the matter, telling staff members in an email sent on Saturday that while the current rewards program used by the company hadn’t been attacked, all the user passwords had been reset just to be safe.

The employees whose data was recently leaked will be notified.

The data breach impacted nearly 30,000 employees. Credit: Creative Commons via blogtrepreneur.com/tech

A Telstra representative later stated that the business was informed of a data breach impacting a third party that involved limited Telstra employee data from 2017.

'The data released is very basic in nature – limited to full names and email addresses used to sign up to the platform,' the spokesperson said.

'No customer account information was included. We believe it’s been made available now in an attempt to profit from the Optus breach.'

'The relevant authorities have been notified, we’ve let current employees know, and while the data is of minimal risk to former employees, we will attempt to notify them too.'

According to reports, 12,800 of the 30,000 employees whose full names and work email addresses were posted on the forum are still employed by the company.

Identity theft is one of the most common cyber crimes. Hackers can use our personal information to open new accounts, make purchases, and even commit crimes. This can have a devastating effect on our lives, both financially and emotionally.

While it was confirmed that the data breach was an accident, we still need to be vigilant in protecting our personal information.

What are your thoughts on this? Do you think it's a big deal for the company to have their staff details leaked? Better yet, if you're a former Telstra employee, how do you feel about this? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

 

[Cher]

The Telstra data hack was related to the employees rewards program only.

 

[Ezzy]

These days, it feels like not a week goes by without some sort of data scandal or security breach making headlines. The latest one to do the rounds? Telstra.

According to reports, hackers have accessed and leaked the first and last names as well as work email addresses of 30,000 past and present Telstra employees on Breach Forum – which is the same platform where Optus' recent major security breach was posted.

However, reports suggested that the details that have been leaked date back to 2017.

In a statement released by a Telstra spokesman, the telecommunications giant confirmed the news, saying that the breach was only related to details handled by a third-party company that administers Telstra’s WorkLife NAB rewards program for their employees at the time.

It’s been reported that the data was first leaked last week on the same forum where the recent major Optus data breach that has rocked the nation was posted.

The telecommunications company was shocked by the ‘accidental’ data breach. Credit: phys.org via Getty Images.​

However, a Telstra source said that the information had only been mistakenly published on the forum and contained details that were ‘no longer relevant’ and there was no personal identification contained in the information.

'It’s not a breach of an internal system ... it’s a platform we no longer use and haven’t used for a number of years,' they said.

'It’s old information from 2017, a lot of it wouldn’t be relevant.'

'It was posted to the Breach Forum last week as information a hacker has tried to sell off as new information.'

Alex Badenoch, a Telstra executive, also weighed in on the matter, telling staff members in an email sent on Saturday that while the current rewards program used by the company hadn’t been attacked, all the user passwords had been reset just to be safe.

The employees whose data was recently leaked will be notified.

The data breach impacted nearly 30,000 employees. Credit: Getty Images.​

A Telstra representative later stated that the business was informed of a data breach impacting a third party that involved limited Telstra employee data from 2017.

'The data released is very basic in nature – limited to full names and email addresses used to sign up to the platform,' the spokesperson said.

'No customer account information was included. We believe it’s been made available now in an attempt to profit from the Optus breach.'

'The relevant authorities have been notified, we’ve let current employees know, and while the data is of minimal risk to former employees, we will attempt to notify them too.'

According to reports, 12,800 of the 30,000 employees whose full names and work email addresses were posted on the forum are still employed by the company.

Identity theft is one of the most common cyber crimes. Hackers can use our personal information to open new accounts, make purchases, and even commit crimes. This can have a devastating effect on our lives, both financially and emotionally.

While it was confirmed that the data breach was an accident, we still need to be vigilant in protecting our personal information.

What are your thoughts on this? Do you think it's a big deal for the company to have their staff details leaked? Better yet, if you're a former Telstra employee, how do you feel about this? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

How do you 'accidently' publish information which is no longer relevant. In today's age of computers l fail to see how publishing this sort of information can be anything but deliberate regardless of how old it is.

If this was not needed, why was it not deleted by that company from their records?