EXCLUSIVE: How Telstra is the 'real winner' of Optus debacle - but the telco doesn't want to crow about it and furiously denies taking a shady swipe at their competitor during the AFL grand final 

• Telstra denies taking swipe at Optus with cyber security ad in AFL grand final
• Many assumed ad was Telstra taking advantage of Optus' massive data breach 
• Telstra says there is a 'heightened interest in cyber security' at the moment 

Telstra has denied taking a sly swipe at its under-fire competitor Optus with an ad for online security it ran during the TV broadcast of last weekend's AFL grand final.

The hugely expensive 30-second commercial shows a woman on her phone getting a text, as words appear across the screen saying: '1 text from the boss' and '3 malicious messages blocked'. 

Many assumed the ad was a deliberate attempt by Australia's largest telco to take advantage of the massive data breach Optus was hit with just days earlier. 

Telstra, in a statement to Daily Mail Australia, admitted it was a deliberate call from the company's top brass to run the commercial during the Geelong vs Sydney match - which drew almost three million viewers.

But the telco added it was only their intention to highlight the need for malware protection following the nation's largest-ever hacking scandal - and not to disparage Optus. 

'We took the decision to run these ads during the Grand Final in light of the heightened interest in cyber security,' Telstra revealed. 

'We have been very conscious not to criticise Optus in any way and would not wish this on anyone.'

Many social media users, however, saw it as a thinly-veiled swipe at its closet competitor.  

One Twitter user asked 'Did you see the Telstra advertisement during the AFL grand final? Was all about how they are secure and safe? 

'I could nearly hear Telstra's senior mgt LOLing at Optus during the advertisement.'

Telstra said the ad campaign has been running since July 'to educate customers on cyber safety and highlight the work we have done to proactively protect our customers from SMS scams and malicious websites'.

Technology expert Trevor Long said whatever its intention, Telstra and other telcos will benefit greatly from the Optus debacle, even if only temporarily.  

'When Telstra talks about its unique selling point in the market, they've been very strong on anti-spam and anti-scam,' he said.

'All that SMS blocking they're doing has been a big thing for them for the last 12 months.'

Other telcos have not put out any announcements since the Optus hack, and with good reason.

'There is no guarantee Telstra, Vodafone (or other companies) are not going to get some sort of data breach,' Mr Long said.

'No one would have 100 per cent certainty of that. It's almost impossible to guarantee, so no one would want to publicly have (an ad targeting another company's data breach) come back on them.'

It comes as droves of Optus users have threatened to leave the service provider having lost faith in the company after their personal information including passports, licences and Medicare details were stolen. 

'It's an interesting thing, because in reality there's no point leaving Optus. The horse has bolted,' Mr Long said.

But he added that those who do leave are sending a message to the company.

'It's important that Optus gets the message that they have upset people,' he said.

'Australians are super loyal to Telstra, to Optus, to all the telcos. That's why we don't switch. 

'I can almost guarantee you there's a better deal out there for everyone, but most people are too loyal to switch.' 

Mr Long made a comparison to what people said after data breaches at Facebook.

'Everyone said they were going to leave Facebook. They didn't. A few people did, but it did not ruin the company,' he said.

'The same will happen here. People will talk about leaving, but they won't, or the number that do won't affect their overall stats and numbers.'

Telstra said it will not be running an identical ad during Sunday's NRL grand final.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Optus for comment.