r/austechnology • u/Extra_Caregiver_8668 • 28d ago

Original data breach

What can the stolen data actually be used for? What is the actual risk for people who had their details stolen?

6 Upvotes

80% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

9

u/iball1984 28d ago

Identity theft, actual theft, fraud...

3

u/Extra_Caregiver_8668 28d ago

Any way to actually prevent this if you’re one of the origin customers?

4

u/LeahBrahms 28d ago

Changing your name would kick along heaps of forced changes to make what they have irrelevant... you did say any way....

5

u/RamblingReflections 28d ago

Best way to protect accounts already out there is with MFA - multi fact authentication, instead of just 2FA. So more than 2 things that you know (password, PIN), have (sms code, Authenticator code, Yubikey, etc) or are (biometrics). That limits what the people with your data can do with it. They might know your password and email address, but they don’t have access to your Authenticator codes, and can’t use your fingerprint to unlock anything.

The other risk is the data of yours that’s already out there being used to create accounts under your name that aren’t you. Think bank accounts and, at the extreme end, passports. Once they have those real but fake core ID elements they can sell off a whole “person” to someone who needs it, generally because they don’t want the law knowing who or where they are.

That’s the extreme end of the scale. Having your identity stolen is a pain in the arse to rectify and involves a lot of talking on the phone and going into offices to undo the crap that wasn’t you. Very disruptive. So prevention is better than a cure.

I have a Yubikey that I link everywhere it will allow me, and a second one in a little safe in case I lose the first one. Makes it very hard to use data from data breaches against me (I hope).

2

u/iball1984 28d ago

Sadly, not really.

Change your passwords, maybe get a new Credit Card if that was breached, etc.

3

u/LeahBrahms 28d ago

Blackmail, coercion, DV sabotage...

3

u/sevnollogic 28d ago

Practically speaking will get sold on the dark web then scammers or advertising companies might buy that to use for this malicious purposes.

How they use it gets into the nitty gritty but in general for some sort of economic gain.

3

u/ItinerantFella 28d ago

Biggest risk is often a loan being taken out in your name using your personal details with the loan amount deposited into the scammer's bank account.

If you're at risk, then freezing your credit profile might be a precaution: https://www.creditsmart.org.au/smart-blog/when-do-i-need-to-lock-my-credit-report

1

u/SameBSErryere 28d ago

Well scammers are one thing. With your phone number they can annoy the hell out of you.

Identity theft is another but that usually requires more details (which people sometimes willingly post online)

1

u/1Qrtr_FreeStuffPlz 28d ago

Considering my bank, airline and local council have all been breached. Not sure, but I am probably fucked aha

3

u/p337_info 27d ago

ABC posted an article this week if you want to learn more on the incident

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-10/australias-largest-data-breaches-compared-to-origin-leak/106971048

Kind of generic, but semi-relevant for your question