Origin Energy hack traced to Accenture's Manila office

Origin Energy hack traced to Accenture's Manila call centre Authorities have traced the Origin Energy cyber hack that exposed the personal data of close to a million Australians to a Manila call centre. Origin customers told the ABC they feared their personal data had been compromised and expressed frustration that the company had not provided sufficient details of the nature of the incident. The investigation has linked a former Accenture employee in Manila, in the Philippines, to last month's security breach. Accenture, which has an office in Manila, works with Origin to run its call centres. The individual, according to a Nine report, wanted to extort the energy provider for money in exchange for the return of the information. Accenture confirmed details of the report to the ABC but said it would not be commenting. Origin Energy also declined to comment, saying the security breach was the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation. Last month The Australian reported that a hacker had sent it a sample of 50 customer records containing names, addresses, emails, dates of birth, phone numbers and billing histories. It is understood that Origin Energy then alerted authorities to a potential data breach. Origin later told The Business it believed the information of approximately 900,000 current and former customers was accessed. Loading...It was the latest such incident involving a major company in Australia. Qantas suffered a major hack in 2025 and Optus and Medibank experienced mass breaches in 2022. The energy provider confirmed it became aware of a potential security threat in early July but initially did not believe it credible. Origin has urged customers to be vigilant to scams and said specialist identity and cyber support services were available to affected customers. "We have now completed the initial phase of our review into Origin's customer data security incident," Origin chief executive Frank Calabria said in July. "To our customers, I am sorry. We don't take for granted the trust customers place in Origin and our safeguarding of their information." An Australian Federal Police (AFP) spokesperson told the ABC the agency was "working closely with Origin Energy and relevant partners following a reported cyber incident". "AFP investigators are focused on gathering evidence, identifying those responsible, and disrupting any associated criminal activity," the spokesperson said. "Origin Energy has been cooperative and transparent in its engagement with investigators and continues to provide assistance to the ongoing investigation."