Massive Theft in Australia Results in 8 Million Stolen Driver Licenses, Passport Details, and Financial Statements

Latitude Holdings, a digital payments and lending firm based in Melbourne, Australia, has reported a large-scale information theft that occurred on March 16. According to reports, 7.9 million Australian and New Zealand driver license numbers were stolen, along with passport numbers of 53,000 individuals and monthly financial statements of about 100 customers. The company also revealed that 6.1 million records dating back to 2005 were stolen. The incident has affected the company’s stock, which fell by 2.5% to AUD 1.18, with shares having dropped by about 2.1% since the incident was reported. The company has promised to reimburse customers who choose to replace their stolen ID documents. The incident has led experts to suggest that the theft is due to understaffed cybersecurity. The Australian Federal Police and the Australian Cyber Security Centre are investigating the attack. Several other Australian firms have also reported cyberattacks over the past few months.