On Saturday, the Australian government suggested more strict sanctions on companies that fail to protect the personal data of customers, after two major cybersecurity security violations that left millions vulnerable to criminals.
On Saturday in Melbourne, Public Prosecutor Mark Drifus announced that the fines for serious Privacy Law infractions would rise to $1 million Australian ($2. 2 million).
Under modifications that will be proposed to Parliament the following week, $4 million) now to $ 50 million ($32 million).
Major corporations might be subject to fines of up to hundreds of millions of dollars, according to Drivos.
The penalties have increased significantly, according to media.
He continued: “It is designed to make companies think, it is designed to be deterrent so that companies protect the Australians’ data.
The first day of Parliament’s business since the middle of September is Tuesday.
Since the last session of Parliament, unidentified piracy groups have stolen personal information from 9.8 million customers of (Opts), the country’s second-largest wireless telecommunications provider. This theft exposed more than a third of the population of Australia to the risk of identity theft and fraud.
This week, 3. 7 million customers of (Medipank), the largest health insurance provider in Australia, were the target of a ransom demand from anonymous cyber thieves who claimed to have stolen 200 GB of user data, including medical diagnoses and treatments.
According to the company, the pirates demonstrated that they had personal records totaling at least 100.
Pirates threatened to announce the medical conditions of prominent (Medipank) customers.
“We need to ensure that when a data infringement occurs, the punishment is sufficient, is a truly serious punishment for the organisation, and cannot be disregarded or pushed solely as part of the cost of doing business.
Drivus expects that the suggested adjustments will be valid within the final four weeks of this year’s legislative session.
There won’t be any retroactive fines and they won’t apply to (Optis) or (Medipank)..
Australia. Tougher sanctions for businesses who don’t protect client data
About Author
