When Naomi went to bed on Thursday night, she had more than $300,000 in her super account.
But when she logged in the next morning, her account balance was at zero.
“It just came up with a pop-up message that just said, ‘We’re experiencing some technical difficulties and don’t panic if your balance is zero’,” she said.
“But it’s pretty hard not to panic.“
AustralianSuper is the country’s biggest retirement fund. (AAP: Lukas Coch)
She was among many Aussies anxiously checking their super accounts on Friday, after news broke of suspected cyber attacks on multiple large superannuation funds.
Naomi’s fund, AustralianSuper, has since released a statement saying all accounts are “secure” — even if fund members can’t access their accounts or they’re seeing a zero balance.
“This is a temporary situation and we’re working hard to resolve it as quickly as possible,” they said.
But until she sees her super balance return to normal, Naomi is feeling on edge.
“I’ve got 10 years until I retire, but I can’t start at zero now with only 10 years to go,” she said.
“I’m hoping that that money’s put back in there or their technical difficulty is figured out.
“But that’s a lot of money to not have at 49.“
AustralianSuper has assured members their funds are safe despite some seeing $0 balances. (ABC News: Emilia Terzon)
‘No communication’ from super funds
Hostplus, Rest, AustralianSuper and Australian Retirement Trust were among the providers targeted by the attacks, which saw some members lose several thousand dollars in retirements savings.
Cyber experts said “major security weaknesses” had already been flagged with the superannuation sector, adding the breach should be a wake-up call for the industry.
The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia said “all affected members” were being contacted about the attack.
Australians have been left shocked by suspected cyber attacks on multiple large superannuation funds. (Unsplash: Taskin Ashiq)
But Rest super fund client Merrily Willis said she was yet to hear anything after her account briefly displayed a zero balance on Friday, before returning to normal.
“I’ve not had one bit of communication from my super fund at all about this,” she said.
She said super funds must provide more clarity on how they will secure accounts into the future.
AustralianSuper fund members struggled to access their accounts on Friday. (ABC News: Emilia Terzon)
‘I felt a bit helpless’
Perth local Ben, an AustralianSuper member, said he had also struggled to get any answers from his super fund.
Like Naomi, he logged in on Friday morning to discover a zero super balance.
“At that point, the emotions take over and it’s like — does that mean I won’t get it back?”
he said.
He tried for hours to get through to his fund over the phone, desperate for answers.
When he tried to log into his account again, he couldn’t get access.
“I felt a bit helpless in terms of not knowing what to do next,” he said.
Cyber experts said most customers should not be concerned about their funding, adding that any impacted customers would likely be protected by insurance.
But after his experience, Ben says he’s considering moving his super elsewhere.
“You’d just assume the biggest industry fund in Australia would have really airtight security,” he said.
“But I guess that’s not the way it is these days.“
The industry body that represents superannuation funds, the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA), said in a statement on Thursday that some funds had experienced attempted cyber attacks over the weekend.
“While the majority of the attempts were repelled, unfortunately a number of members were affected,” ASFA said in its statement.
“Funds are contacting all affected members to let them know and are helping any whose data has been compromised.”
