Hackers have penetrated over 20,000 accounts and stolen cash from certain members of Australia’s largest pension fund in a series of coordinated strikes.
In a statement, National Cyber Security Coordinator Michelle McGuinness said she was coordinating a response including the government, regulators, and industry because she was aware of “cyber criminals” targeting accounts in the nation’s A$4.2 trillion ($2.63 trillion) retirement savings sector. The number of members and pension funds impacted was still unknown.
“We took immediate action to lock these accounts and let those members know,” AustralianSuper’s Chief Member Officer Rose Kerlin said, urging all members to check their online balances.
The largest fund in the nation, AustralianSuper, which oversees A$365 billion for 3.5 million members, acknowledged that up to 600 user credentials had been taken in order to gain access to accounts and perpetrate fraud.
A request for comment was not immediately answered by AustralianSuper.
The second-largest fund, Australian Retirement Trust, which oversees A$300 billion for 2.4 million members, reported that it had discovered “unusual login activity” that was impacting “several hundreds” of accounts. As a precaution, it froze the affected accounts even though no questionable transactions or modifications were performed.
With A$93 billion in assets under management, Rest Super is the default industry pension system for retail employees. It reported that a hack affected about 20,000 accounts, or about 1% of its 2 million members.
“Over the weekend of 29-30 March 2025, Rest became aware of some unauthorised activity on our online Member Access portal,” Rest CEO Vicki Doyle said.
“We responded immediately by shutting down the Member Access portal, undertaking investigations and launching our cyber security incident response protocols.”
A “malicious third-party” allegedly tried to get access to online pension accounts on the Insignia Financial Expand platform, according to Insignia Financial (IFL.AX), which opens a new tab and oversees A$327 billion. According to a representative for Insignia, members had not yet experienced any financial consequences.
Hostplus, which manages A$115 billion and has over 1.8 million members, acknowledged that it was attacked. According to a spokeswoman, there had been no member losses, but the incident’s scope was still being looked into.
After being briefed on the hacking, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese promised that government agencies will provide a “considered” reaction in due course. He went on to say that attacks of this nature were a “regular issue” in Australia, happening once every six minutes.
Major breaches have been reported at telco Optus, private health insurance Medibank (MPL.AX), and St Vincent’s Health, Australia’s largest not-for-profit hospital and aged care provider.
In 2023, the government pledged A$587 million to finance a seven-year plan to enhance cybersecurity for individuals, organizations, and companies.
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