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Skeeve Stevens was imprisoned in 1998 for a hack described as one of Australia’s most “notorious” internet cybercrime. Today, it sounds eerily similar to the Optus breach last September.
Using the alias Optik Surfer, Stevens hacked AusNet to expose its system’s shortcomings by sharing the credit card and personal information of 1200 people with journalists.
In light of the recent Optus breach, Stevens emphasises the importance of constantly updating software and password protection.
According to Stevens, you don’t “become a hacker; you always are.”
He also claims that hackers can become criminals if their skills and talent are not met with enough ethical guidance during their learning process.
“I’ve seen eight-year-old girls coding three [computer] languages. Some of our kids are amazing,” he said.
“But are they being guided by teachers that can help harness and frame those skills? This is where you will end up with bad actors or hackers.”
According to Stevens, cybersecurity literacy is the first thing Australia lacks at various levels. He claims it begins with the average Australian and extends to those in charge of data collection and storage.
While cyberattacks have been widespread in the past weeks and months, he fears that large-scale attacks will become normalised and Australia will soon be hit by a “cyber epidemic” if the government will not take serious actions.
The most significant Optus breach in Australian history exposed 9.8 million customers. Woolworths subsidiary MyDeal reported on October 14 that 2.2 million customers had been subjected to a cyberattack via email.
On October 20, Medibank suffered a similar data breach, with patient information held hostage for ransom. On Tuesday, the company revealed that its data hack had taken a “distressing” turn, with customer data among the stolen information.
“My greatest worry is that [cyberattacks] will slowly ramp up, and it stays that way – and we’re going to tune out like anything else in the news cycle,” said Stevens.
Stevens emphasised that Australians and governments should evaluate whether companies need as much data as they do and consider more secure ways to manage identity or personal information.
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