Published 17 July 2023

On 8 May 2023, national law firm HWL Ebsworth reported a cyber incident involving a data breach and possible unauthorised disclosure of personal information to the dark web.

Documents relating to a limited number of our (the Fair Work Ombudsman’s) files were included in the breach experienced by HWL Ebsworth.

Importantly, none of our systems have been compromised by the cyber incident.

We’re working with HWL Ebsworth to ensure individuals affected by the data breach are notified as a priority. Support and assistance will be provided to these individuals.

The Department of Home Affairs is investigating the extent of the breach, including exposure of the Australian Government’s information including personal information.

We’re also working with HWL Ebsworth to understand what information of ours may have been disclosed. We take our obligations under the Privacy Act 1988 seriously and we’re committed to ensuring appropriate systems are in place to maintain the privacy and the protection of personal information.

Read more about the incident on HWL Ebsworth’s website.

Protecting yourself against cyber security breaches

If you think your information has been misused as a result of this incident, report it to ReportCyber.

Individuals should be alert for scams referencing the HWL Ebsworth data breach. Learn how to protect yourself by:

• visiting the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) ScamWatch website.

Other simple steps to boost cyber security include:

• update your device and turn on automatic updates to ensure you always have the most up-to-date security protection
• turn on multi-factor identification to increase the security of your accounts and make it harder for criminals to gain initial access to your device
• turn on automatic backups to copy and store critical information
• implement access controls to limit user access to only what is needed on devices
• turn on ransomware protection measures
• prepare a Cyber Emergency Checklist to reduce stress and recovery time
• stay up to date on cyber security threats and trends with the Australian Cyber Security Centre’s Alert Service.

For more information, visit cyber.gov.au.