Defence says it's working with Optus and cyber agencies to determine if last week's data breach had any impact on ADF capabilities, with industry figures predicting the saga could hurt the telco's multi-billion-dollar military business.
Among the list of 10,200 stolen Optus customer details released online by the alleged hacker on Tuesday are several defence email accounts, as well as addresses linked to other government agencies.
In a statement, defence said it's engaging with Optus, Home Affairs and the Australian Signals Directorate to understand the full implications, but so far there appears to be no impacts on military equipment or systems.
"At this time, defence can confirm there are no known impacts on defence capabilities," a defence spokesperson told the ABC.
The spokesperson declined to say whether the department was now reviewing existing contracts with Optus because of the massive data breach, although defence insiders say the company's military projects had much higher levels of security than its consumer database.
For decades, Optus has won numerous contracts with defence, including the C1 hybrid commercial and military satellite that was launched in 2003.
In April, the lifespan of the so-called "hotbird", which has commercial Ku-band transponders operating in beams covering Australia and the region, was extended for more than a decade under a $405 million deal.
Industry figures believe the federal government's strong criticism of Optus for its handling of the cyber-attack does not augur well for the Singaporean-owned company's defence business, with its chances of securing a lucrative new satellite contract all but over.
Last year, Optus teamed up with American-owned defence giant Raytheon and French-owned firm Thales as Team AUSSAT, to bid for a project to create a new military satellite communication capability for Australia.
Joint Project 9102, the Australian Defence Satellite Communication System, aims to increase the resilience, agility and flexibility of defence's military satellite communications capability in a contract worth up $4 billion.
Rival bids for JP9102 are also being led by defence giants Lockheed Martin, Airbus, Boeing and Northrop Grumman.
