VicRoads will issue almost one million new driving licences to Victorians who had their privacy breached as part of October’s Optus hack.
Melbourne-based Rani Mukherjee (name changed to protect identity) who was affected by the Optus data breach told The Australia Today that she had recently received an email from VicRoads regarding her new driving licence.
She observed:
“While VicRoads and Optus have collaborated to reach out quickly and make amends, there is no guarantee that this will not happen again.”
The Victorian Government’s redesigned licences will include an additional security number on the back, similar to card verification value (CVV) codes. This security measure will become standard from November 2022 for all 5 million Victorian licence holders.
Ms Mukherjee added that the additional layer of protection offered by VicRoads doesn’t appear to be too safe:
“I WAS A BIT DISAPPOINTED TO KNOW THAT THEY WILL NOT BE ISSUING NEW LICENSE NUMBER BUT ONLY ADDING A SECOND NUMBER AT THE BACK-AS IN A CVV ON A CREDIT CARD – ALL THE REASONS TO BELIEVE, STOLEN IDENTITIES CAN BE USED ANYWHERE.”
The Optus breach affected 9.8 million current and former customers. Personal details such as passport, phone numbers, and driving licence numbers were stolen in this data breach.
VicRoads said on its website that the data obtained from the Department of Home Affairs confirmed that 942,000 Victorian licence holders had their details compromised as a result of the Optus data breach.
VicRoads said on its website:
“The Optus data breach is significant and Victorian licence holders have been impacted more than any other state.”
VicRoads added:
“By the end of the year, these customers will use both their licence number and card number to prove their identity for services like opening bank accounts, loan applications, phone contracts and real estate transactions.”
About 342,000 Victorians will receive their new licences by the end of 2022, while the remaining 600,000 can expect their cards to arrive by the first quarter of 2023.
Further, VicRoads says:
“The Victorian government will work to progressively implement this additional protection for all 5 million Victorian licence holders once the rollout for those impacted in the Optus data breach is completed.”
The government would also seek reimbursement of costs from Optus for the replacement of the licences.
