TPG suffers data breach impacting 280,000 customers

Posted by Harry Baldock : Attackers reportedly hacked into an order management system from TPG’s subsidiary, the broadband provider iiNet Australia’s TPG has become the latest telco to suffer a major cybersecurity breach this weekend, with data having been exfiltrated from its ISP subsidiary, iiNet.

The breach occurred on August 16, where reports suggest it was quickly detected and contained. Nonetheless, the attack reportedly compromised around 280,000 active email addresses; 20,000 active landline phone numbers; 10,000 iiNet customer names, street addresses, and phone numbers; and 1,700 modem setup passwords.

“We unreservedly apologise to our iiNet customers impacted by this incident,” TPG said in a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange. “We will be taking immediate steps to contact impacted iiNet customers, advise of any actions they should take and offer our assistance. We will also contact all non-impacted iiNet customers to confirm they have not been affected.”

No sensitive customer information, like bank details or personal identity documents, was impacted by the breach, as this data was not stored in the iiNet order management system.

“We do not currently have any evidence to suggest an impact to our broader systems or other customers,” TPG said.

TPG says it is working closely with the Australian Cyber Security Centre, National Office of Cyber Security, Australian Signals Directorate, and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner to better understand the breach and take appropriate action.

Investigations into how the attackers gained access to these systems are underway, with early indications suggesting that account credentials had been stolen from an employee.

The first half of this decade has not been kind to TPG when it comes to cybersecurity. The company’s Hosted Exchange service, which provides email hosting for iiNet and Westnet business customers, was notably hacked at the end of 2022, impacting around 15,000 business customers. The attackers appeared to be accessing customers’ cryptocurrency and financial information.

Investigations into this attack are still ongoing.

Both attacks combined, however, still pale in comparison to that experienced by TPG’s rival Optus in 2022, when bad actors gained access to the data of up to 10 million of the company’s current and former customers. Illegally obtained information included customers’ names, dates of birth, home addresses, and more.

While a ransom of $1.5 million was initially demanded for the return of the data, the attacker ultimately backed down, allegedly deleting the stolen data due to the unwanted attention it garnered from law enforcement.Keep up with all the latest telecoms news with the Total Telecom newsletter TPG suffers data breach impacting 280,000 customers | Total Telecom

Read More........ → November 12, 2025

Maldives world's 1st country to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B

IANS Photo

New Delhi,  (IANS): In a landmark public health achievement, Maldives has become the first country in the world to achieve ‘triple elimination’ of mother-to-child transmission (EMTCT) of hepatitis B, HIV and syphilis, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday.

Maldives was currently validated by the WHO for eliminating -to-child transmission hepatitis B. The country, had, achieved WHO validation or EMTCT of HIV and syphilis in 2019.

"Maldives has shown that with strong political will and sustained investment in maternal and child health, elimination of mother-to-child transmission of these deadly diseases, and the suffering they bring, is possible,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.

“This historic milestone provides hope and inspiration for countries everywhere working towards the same goal," he added.

Mother-to-child transmission leads to infections that affect millions worldwide.

In the WHO South-East Asia Region alone, provisional estimates indicate that in 2024, more than 23 000 pregnant women had syphilis and over 8,000 infants were born with congenital syphilis.

About 25,000 HIV-positive pregnant women required treatment to prevent transmission to their babies, while hepatitis B continues to affect more than 42 million people in the Region, the WHO said.

“The landmark feat is an important step towards ‘Healthy Beginnings, Hopeful Futures,’ for improving maternal and newborn health by ending preventable deaths and prioritising long-term well-being," said Dr Catharina Boehme, Officer-in-Charge, WHO South-East Asia Regional Office.

In Maldives, over 95 per cent of pregnant women have received antenatal care, with nearly universal testing for HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B.

With a strong strong immunisation system, no babies were born with HIV or syphilis in 2022 and 2023. A 2023 national survey confirmed zero hepatitis B among young children (first grade of school), surpassing elimination targets, the WHO said."This historic validation is a moment of immense pride for the Maldives and a reflection of our nation’s steadfast commitment to protecting mothers, children and future generations,” said Abdulla Nazim Ibrahim, Minister of Health, Maldives, while pledging to sustain the progress for the future. Maldives world's 1st country to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B | MorungExpress | morungexpress.com

Read More........ → October 16, 2025

Singapore’s national identity excludes those who don’t look like a ‘regular family’

Pavan Mano, King's College London

Nationalism usually works on the basis that a nation should imagine itself as a “we”, with a common identity, history and culture. But it doesn’t always clearly say who the “we” are. Instead, it often works by saying who doesn’t belong – frequently by characterising these people in racialised ways.

Singapore is an interesting case study. Since independence in 1965, the small city-state has explicitly committed to a policy of multiracialism and multiculturalism. This principle is enshrined in its constitution, is widely accepted by Singaporeans and has become a firm pillar of national discourse.

Given this commitment, how does nationalism create exclusion in Singapore and what other forms could this take? In my March 2025 book, Straight Nation, I analyse Singapore’s version of a national identity to show how, while avoiding overtly racialised rhetoric and discrimination, it can define belonging in other ways.

Singaporean nationalism excludes some sections of society mainly through maintaining a set of heterosexual familial norms. This is one reason for the book’s title – it calls attention to how straightness sits at the heart of Singaporean identity. A certain kind of straight life is taken to be the model behaviour of a “normal” citizen.

Some of the things one is expected to do include starting a family – by meeting a member of the opposite sex, getting married and having children. This very specific version of heterosexuality is taken as the default in Singapore, and it ends up excluding a whole range of people.

Family and the nation

Heterosexuality being taken as normal and the expectations placed on the nuclear family are not uniquely Singaporean issues. But because of Singapore’s small size, the state has an outsize capacity to influence both how the “normal” Singaporean ought to live and the consequences that follow.

One of the most visible ways people are affected is through the public housing system. Almost 80% of Singaporean residents live in flats built by the country’s public housing authority, the Housing and Development Board (HDB). These flats are so ubiquitous that Singapore’s former prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong, referred to them as “national housing” in 2018.

The catch is that, with some small exceptions, one has to be married to buy a HDB flat. And because same-sex marriage is not recognised in Singapore, heterosexual marriage becomes a condition of access to this national symbol.

This obviously affects LGBTQ+ people, limiting their ability to access public housing and live independently. But the link between heterosexual marriage and public housing affects a whole range of other people. These include single people and parents, those who choose not to get married and people who are divorced.

There are other examples that demonstrate how it is taken as common sense that one’s life revolves around the nuclear family in Singapore – even though this might not be the case for everyone.

The opening anecdote in Straight Nation shows how the state treats the heterosexual nuclear family as containing the most important set of social relations. Like many other countries at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Singaporean government imposed a lockdown from April to June 2020. When it ended, restrictions were lifted in stages.

Initially, only some in-person interactions were allowed. Singapore’s then-health minister and current deputy prime minister, Gan Kim Yong, said: “Children or grandchildren can visit their parents or grandparents”. He suggested this would “allow families to spend time and provide support to one another” after eight weeks of isolation.

Until the restrictions were further eased 17 days later, visiting one’s parents or grandparents was the only form of in-person social interaction permitted. There was no mention as to what people without a family or estranged from them were meant to do for support. The same applies to people reliant on extended family, such as those who have no have no surviving parents or grandparents, or even those who depend on a close friend.

Again, this assumption can produce exclusions that go beyond sexual difference. To be clear, not everyone will be affected in the same way. But reading Singapore as a straight nation and identifying how one particular kind of heterosexual expression is reified is helpful.

It allows onlookers to ask how these norms can place different kinds of pressure on different people. And perhaps identifying the way in which so many people are affected by this regime of straightness will also help Singapore imagine a future that is fairer and more liveable for everyone.

Pavan Mano, Lecturer in Global Cultures, King's College London

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Read More........ → October 05, 2025