Optus scammer avoids jail

The
man
who
tried
to
extort
money
from
customers
affected
by
the
Optus
data
breach
has
avoided
a
jail
sentence.

Named
as
20-year-old Dennis
Su in
media
reports,
he sent
the
attempted
scam
text
messages
to
at
least
92
Optus
customers,
using
data
from
the
carrier’s

2022
data
breach.

Su
was
yesterday
sentenced
to
100
hours’
community
service,
and
is
subject
to
an
18
month
community
correction
order.
He
also
had
a
conviction
recorded.

Using
details
from
a
collection
of
10,200
customer
records
that
were
leaked
online,
he
texted
customers
demanding
$2000,
threatening
that
if
he
wasn’t
paid,
he
would
use
that
data
for
other
financial
crimes.

The

Australian
Federal
Police
said
there
was
no
evidence
that
any
of
the
targets
paid
Su.

The
data
breach
has
cost
Optus
at
least

$140
million,
and
in
response
to
it,
the
government
has

expanded
funding
to
the
Office
of
the
Australian
Information
Commissioner.

The
government
also

fast-tracked
reforms
to
the

Privacy
Act
that
lifted
the
maximum
penalty
for
a
serious
breach
to
at
least
$50
million.

About Author

AndyC

Andy Curtis is an award-winning security consultant, researcher and public speaker. He has been working in the computer security industry since the early 1990s, having been employed by state and federal government, leading healthcare and banking providers across three continents. He has given talks about computer security for some of the world’s largest companies, worked with law enforcement agencies on investigations into hacking groups, and is a regular voice on TV and radio explaining IT security threats.

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