Cyber breaches cast long shadow over Optus, Medibank

Profession

21 August 2023

Philip King

cyber breaches cast long shadow over optus medibank

Need to know

Roy Morgan’s latest data on brand trust reveals the lingering impact of compromised customer information.

Optus has become the most distrusted brand in Australia in the wake of its high-profile data breach last year, according to the latest Roy Morgan data, displacing Facebook for the first time since the survey began.

Fellow hack victim Medibank also made the Top 10 Most Distrusted Brands after its security was compromised shortly after, coming in at number six.

The data breaches, which exposed the personal information of millions, had left a lingering scar on both companies, Roy Morgan said.

CEO Michele Levine said brands which suffered major scandals found that once distrust took hold, it was very difficult to curtail.

She said that distrust often peaked immediately after an event and a brand could make incremental improvements, but the impact could last many months or even years.

“Distrust makes a brand fragile and is a powerful driver in the decisions which consumers make,” Ms Levine said.

“Brands need to be aware of the ongoing dangers that distrust presents, with lingering distrust a significant risk.”

“Risk assessments and procedures by executives and company directors across all industries need to formally factor-in distrust – indeed distrust should be on the risk register of every board in Australia.”

The latest ranking change for Optus spelled continued bad news for the telecommunications industry, which Roy Morgan found had become the most distrusted sector in February and continued to hold the position in the year to June thanks to a third place for Telstra.

The rankings, which assess net trust/distrust over a 12-month period, show the cumulative impact of negative publicity.

Social media also performed poorly with Facebook in second spot and TikTok deteriorating five places to become the eighth most distrusted brand. The survey put Twitter/X at tenth although it predated Elon Musk’s rebranding of the platform.

Roy Morgan said outside the top 10, the reputation of Qantas continued to deteriorate from 19^th in the previous survey to 13^th, and for the first time it surpassing its own budget airline Jetstar at 16^th.

Other poor performers included NewsCorp and Amazon.

Supermarket and retailers dominated the Most Trusted Brands Top 10, with Woolworths, Coles, Bunnings, Aldi and Kmart taking out the top five places.

Outside of the top 10, the banks picked up minor places with Bendigo Bank at 16^th, the Commonwealth Bank at 17^th (up from 20^th) and ING at 19^th.

Top 10 most distrusted brands

Optus
Facebook
Telstra
News Corp
Amazon
Medibank
Harvey Norman
TikTok
Nestle
Twitter/X

Top 10 most trusted brands

Woolworths
Coles
Bunnings
Aldi
Kmart
Apple
Big W
Myer
Toyota
Australia Post

About the author

Philip King

Philip King is editor of Accounting Times, Accountants Daily and SMSF Adviser, the leading sources of news, insight, and educational content for professionals in the accounting and SMSF sectors. Philip joined the titles in March 2022 and brings extensive experience from a variety of roles at The Australian national broadsheet daily, most recently as motoring editor. His background also takes in spells on diverse consumer and trade magazines. You can email Philip on: [email protected]