The Optus data hack has eclipsed the news cycle and has launched thousands of conversations about privacy and trusting brands. So what does it all mean for Optus as a brand?
In case you’ve been living under a rock. Optus customers have been the victim of mass hacking. Now a hacker is claiming it has the details of thousands of Optus customers. So stuff like birth dates, addresses etc. Basically, all the things a hacker needs to steal your identity.
Optus CEO, Kelly Bayer Rosmarin swiftly posted a heartfelt apology where she got quite teary. Clearly, Optus was going for a human response, but people were too mad to give her any kudus for being emotional in her approach.
https://twitter.com/TheAviator1992/status/1574570735007244289
Plenty of Optus customers are now flooding social media with complaints about customer service since the announcement of the hack, with customers complaining they’ve found it hard to get information about how Optus plans to help its customers.
https://twitter.com/patrickkeneally/status/1573163536880123904
Then the hacker requested a $1.5 million fee to sell Optus back the information they stole – what a girl boss move.
Then this morning, ABC reported that the hacker claiming to have the Optus data has released 10,000 records and will continue to publish more until Optus pays up.
What a bloody mess!
Then The Australian reported that the hacker had posted online that he has now deleted the data and will not continue to dox more Optus customers. This has all gotten more complicated than following a Game Of Thrones plotline.
But, if we step back. What does this really mean for Optus as a brand?
Well, let’s look at history. Optus isn’t the first brand that has had a data leak; it likely won’t be the last.
Linkedin faced a data leak in 2021 that impacted over 700 million users, and while the initial bad press was merciless, Linkedin continues to grow rapidly as a platform. In 2021 LinkedIn revenue increased by 43 per cent to $11.5 billion.
Similarly, Facebook had the infamous data breach in 2019 that saw 533 million users be exposed. But did it really matter? Well, Facebook surpassed $100 billion in revenue in 2020 for the first time, increasing its revenue by 37% year-on-year to $117.9 billion in 2021.
So what does this tell us?
While brand trust may go down for Optus and the fallout impact is likely still happening. There’s a very good chance Optus will bounce back just fine. I mean, if Ashley Madison, the dating site for married men, can survive a data hack. Surely, a telecommunication company will pull through.
