Posted on: 19 October 2023
Peter Malinauskas must explain why he chose to keep a cyber attack on South Australian Government agencies secret – despite the alarming data breach occurring almost two months ago.
The Opposition understands the breach involved an external third-party provider, whose IT systems were attacked and data stolen – potentially impacting the personal information of Super SA members and an unknown number of other government agencies.
The concerning incident only came to light after questioning from the Opposition in Parliament on Wednesday. Peter Malinauskas and Stephen Mullighan were unable to answer how many South Australians have potentially been affected, how many agencies have been impacted or what kind of information has been stolen.
Shadow Treasurer, Matt Cowdrey, said this incident further cements Labor’s addiction to secrecy.
“It is incredibly concerning and quite frankly astounding that this cyber attack happened almost two months ago yet was only made public to South Australians under questioning from the Opposition,” Mr Cowdrey said.
“It’s completely unacceptable that Peter Malinauskas and Stephen Mullighan were advised about this cyber attack last week, but kept it secret and haven’t done a thing to assure South Australians that their data is safe.
“There are still so many unanswered questions here, but clearly Labor didn’t think this issue was important enough alert the public to or properly interrogate.
“The lack of transparency by Labor regarding this cyber attack raises serious questions about their commitment to South Australian’s security and privacy.
“South Australians rightly expect the Government will do everything they can to keep their private details safe, but Labor has decided to keep this alarming cyber attack in the shadows.
“Peter Malinauskas and Stephen Mullighan must urgently investigate how many South Australians have been impacted by this data breach and what personal information was compromised.
“The Malinauskas Labor Government must ensure that every effort is made to safeguard the private data of South Australians.”