Optus breach huge wake-up call, says PM

Optus revealed on Thursday it had been the target of a cyber attack that exposed the personal information of up to 9.8 million Australians, including details such as driver's licence and passport numbers.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said new protections would mean banks and other institutions would be informed much faster when a breach happened so personal data could not be used.

"This is a huge wake-up call for the corporate sector in terms of protecting the data," he told Brisbane radio 4BC on Monday.

"We know in today's world there are actors - some state actors but also some criminal organisations - who want to get access to people's data."

Optus said it had sent emails or text messages to all customers who had identification documents compromised in the cyber attack.

"We continue to reach out to customers who have had other details, such as their email addresses, illegally accessed," it said.

Payment details and account passwords have not been compromised.

It comes as opposition home affairs spokeswoman Karen Andrews introduced a bill to parliament to crack down on cyber criminals.

The bill includes a new standalone offence for cyber extortion and introduces tougher penalties for those preying on vulnerable Australians online.

Cybercriminals who use ransomware would face 10 years in prison while those targeting the country's critical infrastructure would face a maximum 25 years.

"It's designed to disrupt and deter cybercriminals who engage in ransomware and cyber extortion activities targeting Australians and Australian businesses," Ms Andrews told parliament on Monday.

"It hits the cybercriminals where it hurts the most and that's in their hip pocket. These are all sensible measures that will create a greater deterrence and therefore reduce the incidence of ransomware attacks."

The opposition has accused the government of dropping the ball on cybersecurity.

Spokesman James Paterson criticised Ms O'Neil's response to the news of the attack and said Optus "owed their customers a full explanation and a genuine apology".

"It's appropriate that when there's an investigation going on that they follow the AFP's advice but that should not be used as an excuse not to be completely up front with the public about how this happened and who's responsible for it, when those facts are known," he said.

Ms Andrews also hit out at the government for overhauling federal cyber security strategies.

"Why would you say you're getting rid of something when you don't know what you're going to replace it with?" she said.

"Cyber criminals are coming up with new ways every day to use malware and, specifically, ransomware to do us real and long-lasting harm."