iiNet's story is one of a plucky Perth startup that became a leading Australian telco, but its legacy email addresses are on the nose at a leading accounting firm, which is banning them, along with those of Westnet.
iiNet’s legacy email addresses are on the nose at a leading accounting firm, which is banning them, along with those of Westnet.
Tax and business services specialist Byfields Business Advisers will not accept emails from iiNet addresses, or those of Westnet or TPG, after September, following an alarming amount of scam attempts coming from accounts with those domains.
Those email addresses have been part of a year-long transition from TPG Telecom to third-party email group The Messaging Company. In its latest annual report, TPG said this was part of its plan to “retire non-core, legacy products” including “outdated email services”.
Although a very low moment for the iiNet name, once a major feature in Australian internet services landscape, TPG has signalled that it intends to keep the brand operating for remaining services.
ASX-listed TPG acquired iiNet in 2015 for $1.4 billion. It had been founded in 1993 by Michael Malone and listed in the early 2000s, acquiring a number of smaller ISPs, including Westnet and Adelaide's internode, as it drove a national expansion strategy.
Westnet was founded in Geraldton by Peter Brown, a 40under40 winner like Mr Malone. It was acquired by iiNet in 2008 for $81 million.
The Messaging Company is a Brisbane-based operation owned by Norwegian firm Inbox.com AS.
Westnet was prevalent in regional Western Australia and most of the issues were with email addresses containing its domain, according the experience at Byfields, which is among the state's top 20 accounting firms by size, is ranked sixth for its specialisation in tax, and also has a big regional presence.
Byfields IT manager Michael Cornforth said the risky spam emails were a daily occurrence and, as a financial services firm with sensitive customer data, it was felt the threat of compromise was too high.
Mr Cornforth told Business News he had not seen anything like it in his 30-year IT career.
“Not a day goes by without someone with an account that is compromised,” he said.
“It has been slowly building up.
“I have noticed in the last six months it has really ramped up with the number of customers affected.”
In his note to customers, Mr Cornforth spelled out the issue in detail.
“In recent months, we've observed a concerning rise in emails originating from compromised Westnet and iiNet client accounts,” he wrote.
“These emails often inform us of 'new bank account details' for refunds or outstanding payments.
“Other times, they request us to 'get in touch, need to ask a favour' due to a fabricated illness.
“Even more alarmingly it was discovered just this week a client's emails were unknowingly being automatically forwarded to an external address that wasn't their own.
“The spike in compromised emails has increased since iiNet, Westnet and TPG moved their email hosting service to The Messaging Company (TMC), a third-party email provider, from September last year.
Mr Cornforth pointed readers to several sites where the transfer process and overall quality of service from TMC had been reviewed.
“Therefore, in the interests of protecting our staff and clients, from September 2024 30 Byfields will no longer accept any emails from the @westnet.com.au, @wn.com.au or @iiNet.net.au domains,” he wrote.
“Any emails from these domains will be blocked at our firewall and senders will receive a warning that their email has failed to deliver.”
Comment was sought from The Messaging Company.
The reporter has been an iiNet customer since 1997.
