Hours after Optus announced possibly the largest data breach in Australian history, one Singapore-based board director placed a call. The non-executive director of Singtel, the parent company of Optus, was seeking the advice of an Australian cybersecurity and privacy advocate.

The advocate, speaking to AFR Weekend on the condition of anonymity, said the board member asked them for their advice on details about the hack. They wanted to know which part of the organisation had likely failed.