The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is aware that the details of a small number of Australian passports have been published on the Dark Web following a ransomware attack.
The Australian Passport Office is contacting impacted passport holders.
Valid passports affected by this attack are still safe to use for international travel. Your passport number cannot be used by someone else to obtain a new passport. Robust controls are used to protect passports from identity takeover, including sophisticated facial recognition technology.
See our separate page on protecting against scams and identity theft for more advice on how to safeguard your personal information.
You can also seek help from IDCARE, a not-for-profit organisation that specialises in providing advice and support to Australians on how to respond to identity theft.
More advice on what you can do to protect yourself and your family from cyber security incidents is available on the Australian Cyber Security Centre’s (ACSC) webpage at: www.cyber.gov.au.