Data breach sees Telstra employees’ details posted online

Australian telecommunications company Telstra revealed on Tuesday that it had been hit by a data breach that had revealed the details of 30,000 current and former employees.

The details included employee’s first and last names and email addresses, and were posted on hacking forum Breached. This forum was also used to leak information obtained in the Optus hack.

In a tweet, Telstra confirmed that the data leak “wasn’t a breach of any Telstra system” and that it has notified its employees and authorities first, before notifying former employees, despite “minimal risk” to them.

In a statement, a Telstra spokesperson said the company had been “made aware of a data breach affecting a third party that included limited Telstra employee information from 2017.”

Of the information shared, 12,800 of the employees named were current employees.

Telstra said in a statement to its staff members that the company “understand[s] [the data breach] may cause some anxiety...particularly in the current climate of heightened awareness around cyber security”, but reassured them that they could contact Telstra’s cyber team for more information about the breach. The company also reminded staff to “remain vigilant about any unexpected communications”.

Telstra is reportedly working with a third party to determine the cause of the breach.