Australia's telco, financial and government sectors have been on high alert since Singtel-owned Optus, the country's second-largest telco, disclosed on Sept. 22 a hack that saw the theft of personal data from up to 10 million accounts.That attack was followed this month by a data breach at health insurer Medibank Private, which covers one-sixth of Australians, resulting in personal information of 100 customers being stolen, including medical diagnoses and procedures, as part of a theft of 200 gigabytes of data.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comDreyfus, in an official statement issued on Saturday, said the government would next week move to "significantly increase penalties for repeated or serious privacy breaches" with amendments to privacy laws.The announcement comes after the government earlier this month revealed plans to overhaul consumer privacy rules that would help facilitate targeted data sharing between telecommunication firms and banks following the breach at Optus.In the wake of Optus attack, two Australian regulators opened investigations into the company, which has come under heavy fire for not preventing the hack, one of the biggest on record in Australia."