Internet services provider Optus has apologised for a “technical network outage” that caused 10 million people to lose access to phone lines, electronic payments and government systems.
The Australian government has launched an investigation into the nationwide communications outage that left residents without access to the internet for 12 hours on Wednesday 9 November.
“It is critical that industry and governments take stock following large-scale outages, given no network is immune,” said communications minister Michelle Rowland, calling the failure “particularly concerning”.
Optus said a “configuration issue” may have been the cause of the outage, and stressed there was no evidence of a cyber attack.
The outage disrupted countless services, including business transactions, phone lines used by emergency services and transport links such as train services in the state of Victoria.
The Federal Department of Education, the Royal Melbourne Hospital and CommBank were among the organisations affected by the outage. The failures also affected other providers that use the Optus network, including Amaysim, Aussie Broadband and Moose Mobile.
Optus customer Danielle Hopwood told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation the incident had left her unable to receive important updates about her father’s cancer treatment. “I’m just waiting for results, and I can’t even get those through,” she said.
The company last year suffered what was believed to be the biggest data breach in Australian history. The cyber attack exposed the personal information of 10 million customers.
Optus’ chief executive Kelly Bayer Rosmarin said the company would “work even harder to retain our customers’ trust” in a statement released alongside the company’s half-yearly earnings.
Last year, the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC)’s annual cyber threat report said the company received 76,000 cyber-crime reports in 2021 – up 13 per cent from the previous period – resulting in costs of A$39,000 for a small business and A$62,000 for a large business.
The hacks led Australia to seek to improve its cyber resilience, vowing to become the “world’s most cyber-secure country” by the end of the decade.
