Latest cybersecurity reporting from selected sources.

Australian Clinical Labs Ordered to Pay $3.8 Million Over Pathology Unit Data TheftAn Australian court has fined a medical lab $5.8 million for cybersecurity failures leading up to - and following - a 2022 cyberattack that affected 223,000 patients. The penalty marked the first time Australia has levied a civil monetary fine for violations of its Privacy Act of 1988.

Australian Clinical Labs Ordered to Pay $5.8M in Data Theft at Medlab Pathology UnitAn Australian court has fined a medical lab $5.8 million for cybersecurity failures leading up to - and following - a 2022 cyberattack that affected 223,000 patients. The penalty marked the first time Australia has levied a civil monetary fine for violations of its Privacy Act of 1988.

Telecom May Face Up to $2.22 Million Per Violation in FinesThe Australian privacy watchdog sued Optus, saying the country's second largest telecom failed for years to protect sensitive customer data breached during a September 2022 incident affecting nearly 10 million people. The regulator said Optus faces a potential fine of up to AU$21.9 trillion.

eSafety Regulator Seeks Platform's Policy on Extremist and Child Sexual ContentAustralia regulators on Monday fined social networking company Telegram nearly AU$1 million for delaying its response to questions on how the company regulates violent, extremist and child sexual content on its platform. Telegram was the only social media firm to miss a May 6 deadline.

Social Platforms Also Could Face Stiff Fines for Failing to Protect UsersThe Australian government passed the Scams Prevention Framework law in Parliament to make social media companies, banks and telecommunication companies accountable for scammers using their networks, subjecting them to a maximum of AU$50 million in fines for violations.

Also, Australian Fines Kraken AU$8 million Over BreachesThis week, scammers targeted crypto workers with fake meeting apps, Australia fined Kraken crypto exchange operator Bit Trade and a Los Angeles federal court ordered five individuals to pay $5 million. Polish police detained a Russian former exchange operator and FTX debtors clawed back more cash.

Telecom Company Also Faces OAIC Investigation and Potentially Millions in FinesThe Australian Communications and Media Authority says it has filed proceedings against Optus in a federal court as the company failed to protect sensitive customer data during a data breach in September 2022. The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner is also investigating the incident.

Also: Spanish Hacker Alcasec Arrested AgainThis week, Fluent Bit contains a flaw, Microsoft is nuking VBScript, Irish police and the SEC face fines, a man was sentenced for BEC, a flaw was found in Netflix's Genie, an Australia university said it was breached and Black Basta claimed an attack, and hacker Alcasec was arrested again.

Australian businesses and individuals now face government fines and consequences for paying ransoms or interacting with assets owned by LockBitSupp, aka Dmitry Yuryevich Khoroshev.

The Australian parliament has approved a bill to amend the country's privacy legislation, significantly increasing the maximum penalties to AU$50 million for companies and data controllers who suffered large-scale data breaches. [...]

The Australian government has passed a bill that markedly increases the penalty for companies suffering from serious or repeated data breaches

The Australian government has passed a bill that markedly increases the penalty for companies suffering from serious or repeated data breaches

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) announced that Google was fined $60 million for misleading Australian Android users regarding the collection and use of their location data for almost two years, between January 2017 and December 2018. [...]