 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Financial services |
| Founded | 1999 |
| Founder | Tammy Barton |
| Headquarters | |
Key people | Tammy Barton |
| Services | Personal Budgeting |
MyBudget is an Australian financial services company based in Adelaide, South Australia, which provides personal budget management services.
MyBudget was founded in 1999 [1] by Australian entrepreneur and personal finance expert Tammy Barton. During one of her first jobs at a legal firm, Barton noticed a lack of assistance for people struggling with the damaging effects of financial stress. Using this as inspiration for MyBudget, Barton decided to help them herself and built the business from her kitchen table from the southern suburbs of Adelaide. [2] Barton’s main motivation was to help individuals improve their financial position by formulating a tailored budget and by managing their finances on their behalf. [3] Their first office was located in Adelaide, South Australia.
MyBudget provides a personal budgeting service which analyses a client's finances, including income, expenses and debt. The budgeting system works by ranking each bill in order of priority categories, from those which are the highest, such as living expenses and mortgage repayments, to those with a lower priority.
In December 2013, MyBudget was named in a national current affairs television report as "profiteering at the expense of people who are struggling with debt". [4] MyBudget issued a statement responding to the report, claiming that "the segment was an unbalanced attack on our industry and that many of the comments made are inaccurate". [5]
In 2017, MyBudget was the object of a class action due to withholding interest accrued by clients. [6] In September 2018, the courts dismissed the proceedings, with Judge Lee stating that "MyBudget obtains and suffers the pluses and minuses of the bank accounts necessary to discharge its obligations to provide the services," and, in addition, "The Provision did not cause an overall detriment, financial or otherwise, to clients". [7]
In May 2020, MyBudget was the confirmed target of a cyberattack. As a result, the company quickly moved its employees into work-from-home arrangements amid the coronavirus outbreak. [8] Automatic transfers were interrupted, but progressed manually. Customers expressed concerns as to whether the significant personal data held by MyBudget had been leaked or hacked. [9] Later, hackers claimed to have stolen data from MyBudget using ransomware and threatened to publish it unless paid. [10] During the ransomware attack "users were unable to view their account balance for at least seven days." [11] In a statement to the media on 15 May 2020, MyBudget stated that there was "no credible evidence that significant data was accessed or will be misused [h]owever we can't rule this out and are taking all cautionary measures". [8]
Singtel Optus Pty Limited is an Australian telecommunications company headquartered in Macquarie Park, a suburb in the Northern Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Singaporean telecommunications company Singtel.
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CNA Financial Corporation is a financial corporation based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its principal subsidiary, Continental Casualty Company (CCC), was founded in 1897. CNA, the current parent company, was incorporated in 1967.
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HWL Ebsworth is a commercial law firm that operates throughout Australia. It is the largest partnership among Australian law firms, with 285 partners.
Tamara Jill Barton is an Australian entrepreneur and the founder of MyBudget.
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A series of powerful cyberattacks using the Petya malware began on 27 June 2017 that swamped websites of Ukrainian organizations, including banks, ministries, newspapers and electricity firms. Similar infections were reported in France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Russia, United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. ESET estimated on 28 June 2017 that 80% of all infections were in Ukraine, with Germany second hardest hit with about 9%. On 28 June 2017, the Ukrainian government stated that the attack was halted. On 30 June 2017, the Associated Press reported experts agreed that Petya was masquerading as ransomware, while it was actually designed to cause maximum damage, with Ukraine being the main target.
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On May 7, 2021, Colonial Pipeline, an American oil pipeline system that originates in Houston, Texas, and carries gasoline and jet fuel mainly to the Southeastern United States, suffered a ransomware cyberattack that impacted computerized equipment managing the pipeline. The Colonial Pipeline Company halted all pipeline operations to contain the attack. Overseen by the FBI, the company paid the amount that was asked by the hacker group within several hours; upon receipt of the ransom, an IT tool was provided to the Colonial Pipeline Company by DarkSide to restore the system. However, the tool required a very long processing time to restore the system to a working state.
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In mid-May 2021 hospital computer systems and phone lines run by the Waikato District Health Board (DHB) in New Zealand were affected by a ransomware attack. On 25 May, an unidentified group claimed responsibility for the hack and issued an ultimatum to the Waikato DHB, having obtained sensitive data about patients, staff and finances. The Waikato DHB and New Zealand Government ruled out paying the ransom.
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