Privacy commissioner Timothy Pilgrim has issued a direct warning
to business and government agencies that they must take steps to
protect citizens' personal information from the most recently
discovered computer bug or risk breaching the Privacy Act.
The bug – dubbed Shellshock – was found in the
Bourne Again SHell (Bash). It is a security hole that could be used
by hackers to access or manipulate the data held in vulnerable
systems. Bash is a widely deployed system, providing the coding
framework for many applications developed for Linux, some Unix and
potentially Apple computers.
Under Australian Privacy Principles, organisations must take
reasonable steps to protect the information they hold from misuse
and loss and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.
Last year, the Australian Privacy Commissioner found AAPT Limited
breached the Privacy Act for failing to adequately protect customer
data from unauthorised access after customer data held on
