Australian PM's department accidentally leaks hundreds of confidential email addresses - CNET

Enlarge Image

The office of Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Tunbull inadvertently distributed hundreds of "confidential" email addresses on Wednesday due to an "administrative error", The Guardian reports.

Women seeking to be appointed to govement boards and bodies in the country were advised to register their interest through the govement's AppointWomen database. An email was sent to these women to inform them that the AppointWomen service was being discontinued -- but each recipient also got the full list of the email addresses of the women who had registered, according to the publication.

"There has been an administrative error which has led to the unintentional disclosure of a number of email addresses," Troy Sloan, the department's social policy division's acting first assistant, wrote in an email to all of the women.

The Guardian had reported "thousands" of email addresses were distributed, but a spokesperson for the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet told CNET that the actual number was just over 800.

Tubull in late April announced his govement would be investing AU$230 million in cybersecurity.