{"id":30404,"date":"2022-10-11T09:59:59","date_gmt":"2022-10-11T09:59:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/easydmarc.com\/blog\/?p=30404"},"modified":"2025-05-08T21:09:51","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T21:09:51","slug":"weekly-email-security-news-recap-1-october-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/easydmarc.com\/blog\/weekly-email-security-news-recap-1-october-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekly Email Security News Recap #1 [October 2022]"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every company’s most valuable asset is its data. According to <\/span>Statista<\/span><\/a>, the global average cost of one <\/span>data breach<\/span><\/a> stood at $4.24 million in 2021 and $4.35 million in 2022. Meanwhile, <\/span>Forbes<\/span><\/a> says 43% of all data breaches involve SMBs (small and medium-sized businesses). Moreover, more than 60% of SMBs reported a data breach in the past year.<\/span><\/p>\n

Most of these organizations ignore cybersecurity threats. If you don\u2019t want to become another statistic, you can\u2019t underestimate the importance of cybersecurity. Your company’s protection must always be a priority.<\/span>
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Here are some of the top email security news stories and cybersecurity headlines of October’s first week.<\/span>
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Let’s dive in!<\/span><\/p>\n

Teen Arrested for Blackmailing Victims of Optus Data Leak<\/b><\/b><\/h2>\n

A nineteen-year-old teenager was arrested by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) for using leaked Optus customer data.<\/span>
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Last month the suspect used 10,200 records leaked by the Optus hackers.<\/span>
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After the leak, the teen contacted victims over SMS to threaten to sell their data to other hackers if they refused to pay $1,300 within two days.<\/span><\/p>\n

The impostor used a Commonwealth Bank of Australia account to obtain the ransom. The AFP identified the account and got the holder’s bank information.<\/span><\/p>\n

The teenage cybercriminal sent blackmailing messages to 93 individuals whose data was exposed in the Optus data leak, though none of them paid the ransom.<\/span>
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The suspect now faces charges of using a telecommunication network to blackmail the victims (10 years of imprisonment) and dealing with identification data (maximum of 7 years in prison).<\/span><\/p>\n

The Optus breach hackers have yet to be identified, and the\u00a0 AFP’s investigation is still underway.<\/span><\/p>\n

Optus published an update<\/span> on its internal investigation results, confirming that the breach impacted 9.8 million customers and compromised 2.1 million government ID numbers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Telstra Employees\u2019 Data for Sale on the Dark Web<\/b>
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With over 18 million retail mobile services subscribers, Telstra, the Australian telecom giant, suffered a personal data leak of 30,000 employees.<\/span><\/p>\n

Telstra said in its statement published on Tuesday that its systems weren\u2019t affected by the breach, and no customer data was exposed.<\/span><\/p>\n

The 2017 data came from a third-party platform called Work Life NAB.<\/span><\/p>\n

The company <\/span>stated<\/span><\/a> that the supplier previously provided a \u201cnot-obsolete\u2019 Telstra employee rewards program.<\/span><\/p>\n

After the leak, the data was posted on the Dark Web, and the same forum used by the cybercriminals accountable for the Optus breach.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The stolen Telstra<\/span> data included:<\/span>
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