Origin Energy breach exposes 900,000 customers, sparking fresh cyber-security concerns

In early July, Origin Energy confirmed that personal data belonging to 900,000 current and former customers had been accessed, including names, dates of birth, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and the last four digits of some credit cards. The company initially dismissed the threat but later notified those affected, warning of potential phishing and scam attempts. Curtin University associate professor Mihai Lazarescu stressed that no system is fully secure and that the breach illustrates how easily information posted online can be harvested.

Computing professor Yeslam Al-Saggaf argued the incident is more serious than the larger Canva breach because it involves financial details that can be exploited for fraud and increase insurance premiums. The episode adds to a series of high-profile Australian breaches at Canva, Latitude, Optus, Medibank and Qantas, while the OAIC reported an 8 % rise in breach notifications in 2025, with cyber-hacking remaining the leading cause.