NGS Super’s response to the recent data breach cases in Australia

Recent major data breaches at Optus and Medibank Private have resulted in the exposure of personal information for millions of Australians. Names, addresses, birth dates, contact details and in some cases, driver’s licenses, Medicare numbers, insurance claim information and passports were exposed. Unfortunately, some of our members have been affected by these breaches, and are therefore at higher risk of identity theft.

In response to these data breaches, we promptly took steps to assess the impact on our members and manage the risk to both them and the Fund, implementing an immediate tightening of controls. We have also provided our Helpline staff with extra training and resources to address the data breach related matters affecting our members.

We can confirm that neither NGS or our key service providers have been affected by the Optus and Medibank Private data breaches. We remain vigilant and aware of the potential risks the data breaches pose to us and our members. The safety of our members is paramount, and we will keep you informed on any developments that may affect you.

We have been working closely with our key service providers to ensure information security processes and controls are adequate in light of the heightened risk. We will continue to work closely with them to monitor the situation for any further areas of risk or opportunities for proactive protection.

We will also continue to explore the feasibility of any further security measures and have been participating in a series of industry roundtables to better understand and manage the specific risks to superannuation trustees and their members.

In the meantime, we encourage you to stay vigilant and read the following resources if you have been affected by the recent Optus or Medibank breaches to remain informed on what steps you can take to limit the risk of fraud.

Identify theft — Protect your personal information by moneysmart.gov.au
Respond to a data breach notification by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
Protect yourself from scams by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission