Optus announced the data breach, affecting past and present customers, on through a media release on the 22nd of September.

“I am disappointed that we couldn't have prevented it," Optus CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin told 7 News the next day. "I'm disappointed that this undermines all the hard work we have been doing … I am very sorry and apologetic.

"It should not have happened.”

Rosmarin made a video statement on the 3rd of October, telling the public that 8 million past and present customers won’t need to do anything to protect themselves, but a further 2 million will.

“We’re deeply sorry that this has happened and we recognise the significant concern it has caused many people," Rosmarin said in the video.

Project PR & Media Managing Director Alicia Grabowski criticised the statement in an interview on 3AW Afternoons.

"In my opinion, she was too emotional, she wasn't prepared and she wasn't confident in her interviews," said Grabowski.

Shadow Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews criticised Optus' slow response to the data breach in an interview with 7 News.

“They didn’t understand early enough what they needed to do to protect it, so that’s a failure by Optus,” Andrews said.

Optus says it aims to be as transparent as it can regarding the data breach. The company announced an independent external review into how the breach occured on the 3^rd of October.

Deloitte Australia has been appointed by Optus to run the review into the breach. Rosmarin says the firm will "play a critical role" in the company’s response.

The review will include a forensic assessment of Optus’ security systems, controls, and processes, as well as the circumstances surrounding the attack.

“This review will help ensure we understand how it occurred and how we can prevent it from occurring again," says Rosmarin. "It will help inform the response to the incident for Optus.

"This may also help others in the private and public sector where sensitive data is held and risk of cyberattack exists.”

The Response in Optus Retail Stores

On the IT side, Optus’ is responding to the breach by reconstructing the leaked information from data logs and then alerting affected people.

Those people then go to Optus stores. At the retail and customer services level, the breach has completely changed the environment of the stores.

We spoke to one Optus employee on condition of anonymity.

“We all enjoy making sales and hitting our targets, but since the data breach, most of our sales numbers have dropped significantly," said the employee. "This has been replaced by constant customer enquiries about the data breach.”

“It's become more of a challenge to turn up to work. Staff morale has decreased significantly. Dealing with low staff morale and abusive customers can take its toll when people completely act out of line and take it out on frontline workers.

"It can just take a toll for frontline workers to constantly be repeating ourselves almost 50 times a day. In the first week we were understanding, but now we don't tolerate abuse or any disrespect at all in our store.”

Optus is offering impacted people a 12-month Equifax Protect subscription. The credit-monitoring service allows you to check your credit score and alerts you if any key credit changes are attempted in your name. Equifax will also send subscribers a monthly credit report.

Those affected can go to a retail Optus store and request a promo code to enable the subscription.

Optus has briefed retail store staff of the new protocols in regard to the data breach including: advising customers what information is on their accounts, providing customers with Equifax Protect codes and answering general queries about the data breach.

What does Optus' future hold?

“This will definitely affect Optus in the court of public opinion," said the employee we spoke to.

Following the data breach, Optus is working to regain customers' trust. Rosmarin says she is “committed to rebuilding trust with our customers and this important process will assist those efforts."

Meanwhile, the company still faces millions in remediation costs. Optus will foot the bill for new passports and driver licences for around 2.8 million people under agreements with federal and state governments.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said “Optus has responded to my request that I made both in the parliament and that Senator Wong made in writing to Optus; they will cover the cost of replacing affected customers‘ passports."

The Federal Government is yet to announce whether Optus will face penalities such as a fine, but are boosting protections for impacted people. The Australian Federal Police has set up Operation Guardian in partnership with state police forces protect more than ten thousand of those affected.

From a civil perspective, legal players like Slater & Gordon Lawyers are investigating a potential class action against Optus. The employee we spoke to says litigation "could definitely hurt the company as it will be tied up in the Supreme Court for years.”