[AusNOG] Optus Hack

[James Murphy]

Does anyone know which laws cover the data they were keeping?

Did a search for anything with "telecommunication" in the name (link <https://www.legislation.gov.au/Browse/ByTitle/Acts/InForce/0/telecommunication/All/>), found 71 results and downloaded 73 PDF files (C2022C00170 Telecommunications Act 1997 had 3 files, all others had 1 file), and can't find anything that mentions keeping this level of data. 

The closest thing I found was in the following:

C2022C00151 - Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979
C2015A00039 - Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Amendment (Data Retention) Act 2015
C2021A00078 - Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (International Production Orders) Act 2021

which contained the following two sections that seem to cover identification information - there doesn't seem to be anything that says they need to collect or store to the level that Optus seems to have done.. Almost reads like you could store name and address (without DOB?) and that would be adequate enough (but I'm not a lawyer so who knows).. Am I looking in the wrong place/at the wrong laws?

13 Identification of a particular person
For the purposes of this Schedule, a particular person may be identified:
(a) by the person’s full name; or
(b) by a name by which the person is commonly known; or
(c) as the person to whom a particular individual transmission service is supplied; or
(d) as the person to whom a particular individual message/call application service is provided; or
(e) as the person who has a particular account with a prescribed communications provider; or
(f) as the person who has a particular telephone number; or
(g) as the person who has a particular email address; or
(h) as the person who has a particular internet protocol address; or
(i) as the person who has a device that has a particular unique identifier (for example, an electronic serial number or a Media Access Control address); or
(j) by any other unique identifying factor that is applicable to the person.

and

187AA Information to be kept
(1) The following table sets out the kinds of information that a service provider must keep, or cause to be kept, under subsection 187A(1):
Item
1
Topic
The subscriber of, and accounts, services, telecommunications devices and other relevant services relating to, the relevant service
Description of information
The following:
(a) 	any information that is one or both of the following:
		(i) any name or address information;
		(ii) any other information for identification purposes; 
	relating to the relevant service, being information used by the service provider for the purposes of identifying the subscriber of the relevant service;
(b) 	any information relating to any contract, agreement or arrangement relating to the relevant service, or to any related account, service or device;
(c) 	any information that is one or both of the following:
		(i) billing or payment information; 
		(ii) contact information;
	relating to the relevant service, being information used by the service provider in relation to the relevant service;
(d) 	any identifiers relating to the relevant service or any related account, service or device, being information used by the service provider in relation to the relevant service or any related account, service or device;
(e) 	he status of the relevant service, or any related account, service or device.


> On 27 Sep 2022, at 11:12, Nathan Brookfield <Nathan.Brookfield at iperium.com.au> wrote:
> 
> They’re legally obligated to retain it but why it’s on the API and why it’s not encrypted.
> 
> Looking at the data some fields are hashed and then repeated in the bloody clear :(
> 
> On 27 Sep 2022, at 11:02, glenn.satchell at uniq.com.au wrote:
> 
> My understanding was that the data included the 100 points of ID info. Why are they retaining this? Surely after confirming the 100 points there only needs to be a record "100 points provided"=true and not retain the actual details. This goes back to only keeping the private data you need.
> 
> regards,
> Glenn
> 
> On 2022-09-27 10:49, Damien Gardner Jnr wrote:
>> Personally, I find putting Authentication on my API endpoints to be a
>> FANTASTIC first step towards API security.  And then not even using
>> public IP addresses in test environments is a pretty good second
>> step..  </onlyhalfsarcasticherewhydoesthiskeephappening>
>> On Tue, 27 Sept 2022 at 10:46, Bevan Slattery <bevan at slattery.net.au>
>> wrote:
>>> Hi everyone,
>>> Obviously a big week in telco and cybersecurity.  As part of my work
>>> I am on the Australian Cyber Security Industry Advisory Committee as
>>> an industry representative.
>>> I am keen to look at opening up a dialogue with more and more telco,
>>> DC and Cloud CISO’s on what they are doing around this issue and
>>> looking to take a proactive step towards best practice on customer
>>> data and system security.
>>> There will be some pretty serious consequences of this hack on the
>>> industry and importantly we need to make sure we are as best placed
>>> to help each other continually increase in security posture through
>>> best practice, but also working with each other as an industry.
>>> Are people keen on having a online/VC session sometime in the next
>>> few weeks where like-minded industry participants get together and
>>> discuss security, retention, encryption, threat detection etc.?  If
>>> so, just ping me directly and if there is enough interest I will
>>> send out an invitation to the list for a call.
>>> Cheers
>>> [b]
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> AusNOG mailing list
>>> AusNOG at ausnog.net
>>> https://lists.ausnog.net/mailman/listinfo/ausnog
>> --
>> Damien Gardner Jnr
>> VK2TDG. Dip EE. GradIEAust
>> rendrag at rendrag.net -  http://www.rendrag.net/
>> --
>> We rode on the winds of the rising storm,
>> We ran to the sounds of thunder.
>> We danced among the lightning bolts,
>> and tore the world asunder
>> _______________________________________________
>> AusNOG mailing list
>> AusNOG at ausnog.net
>> https://lists.ausnog.net/mailman/listinfo/ausnog
> _______________________________________________
> AusNOG mailing list
> AusNOG at ausnog.net
> https://lists.ausnog.net/mailman/listinfo/ausnog
> _______________________________________________
> AusNOG mailing list
> AusNOG at ausnog.net
> https://lists.ausnog.net/mailman/listinfo/ausnog

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.ausnog.net/pipermail/ausnog/attachments/20220927/d3982eac/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: smime.p7s
Type: application/pkcs7-signature
Size: 3854 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://lists.ausnog.net/pipermail/ausnog/attachments/20220927/d3982eac/attachment.p7s>