Australia’s Communications has all but ruled out a cyberattack as the cause of the Optus outage as she advised small businesses to keep receipts of any harm caused.
The telco has suffered a major network outage impacting the entirety of their network across Australia and preventing people from calling Triple Zero on Optus landlines.
Responding to the situation on Wednesday morning, Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said she didn’t have any information to suggest the outage was the result of a cyberattack.
“My understanding is that this is a fault deep in the core,” she said.
“The core network basically encompasses everything from routing to electronics. So it is a fault that is quite fundamental to the network.”
Ms Rowland said Optus was working to resolve the fault but the company had not provided a timeline for when the situation would be fixed.
While acknowledging it was too early to be discussing compensation measures, the Minister said it was “important” that people – especially small businesses – keep receipts showing any financial losses that result from the outage.
“This has been a frustrating morning for have discussed customers right around Australia. And we appreciate that this frustration is not only in terms of inconvenience, but in some cases, it is economic frustration as well,” Minister Rowland said.
“It is probably too early to be discussing or giving definitive views about compensation or other consumer rights.
“But I do reiterate the [Telecomunication Industry Ombudsman’s] statement that it’s important, especially for small businesses, to keep receipts so that any recourse and any redress that may be available to them has that evidentiary base.”
Optus’s network outage has limited some Australians’ ability to contact emergency services, with Optus landline customers unable to call Triple Zero.
Ms Rowland said that Optus mobile customers were able to contact emergency services due to a protocol commonly known as “camping on other networks”.
“Where one network is not available, the mobile device will camp onto another network. I have spoken to the triple zero operator and they have confirmed that this camping mechanism is working,” she said.
The Albanese government’s Communications Minister appeared frustrated at the lack of communication from Optus, telling reporters that it was “vital” the company was both “transparent and timely” in providing updates to customers.
“I think Optus needs to make sure they step up and communicate with people,” she said.
“As I understand it this started in the early hours of this morning, we’re now at 11 o’clock, and for a lot of people who are trying to get on with their day and their businesses, it’s absolutely vital that they get back to normality.
“So again, I would urge Optus to utilize every channel available, including the broadcast media to make sure that these messages get across.”
Ms Rowland also implied that handling the crisis poorly would lead to consumers switching to their competitors
“Consumers will be making judgments about the quality of service that they receive in a competitive market,” she said.
(Sky News)
