Australia a greater cyber-attack target

March 6, 2023roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Sarah Ison
The Australian – Page: 2 : 6-Mar-23

Former head of the US National Security Agency Mike Rogers claims the apparent improvement in relations between China and Australia will not see a reduction in the level of China’s cyber activity against Australia. Rogers says Australia’s involvement in alliances such as AUKUS and the Quad make it an increased target for cyber attacks, as does the automation of industries such as mining. He suggests that the strong response from both the government and the public to the cyber attacks on Optus and Medibank would serve as more of an incentive than a disincentive for future attacks.

CORPORATES
UNITED STATES. NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, MEDIBANK PRIVATE LIMITED – ASX MPL

Guardian Australia staff in the dark as global hack shutdown continues

January 10, 2023roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Sam Buckingham-Jones
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 10-Jan-23

Online and print news company The Guardian was hit by a suspected ransomware attack across its global operations towards the end of 2022, and it is still working to recover from the attack. Its Australian news web site is still continuing to publish articles, but staff have been asked to working from home until January 23. Guardian Media Group CEO Anna Bateson has told staff that it has disabled Wi-Fi, network and printer access at all of its offices, in order to allow its technical staff to get its operations up and running again.

CORPORATES
GUARDIAN MEDIA GROUP PLC

Optus tells customers affected by data breach they can no longer use passports as online ID

October 18, 2022roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Tory Shepherd
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 18-Oct-22

Sydney Optus customer Daniel Reeders says he is angry that the telco did not tell customers whose passports were exposed under its recent data breach that it would ask the federal government to block those numbers from the national Document Verification System. Reeders does not drive so his passport number is his main means of identification, and he was one of over 100,000 Optus customers who had their passport numbers exposed by the hack; he had been told that he did not need to begin the process of getting a new one, prior to learning what Optus had asked the government to do.

CORPORATES
SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD

APRA warns on bank cyber risks

October 12, 2022roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Cliona O’Dowd
The Australian – Page: 13 & 19 : 12-Oct-22

Australian Prudential Regulation Authority chairman Wayne Byres has told a parliamentary committee hearing that a cyber attack on one of the nation’s financial institutions is inevitable. Byres said the sector has invested significantly in protecting their systems from hackers, but it is only a matter of time before a hacker is successful. He added that it is equally important to invest in response capabilities so any breaches are detected quickly and action is taken to limit the damage. S&P Global Ratings recently warned that Australia’s regional banks in particular are vulnerable to data breaches.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, S&P GLOBAL RATINGS

Government jumped gun with Optus attack

October 4, 2022roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by David Swan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 4-Oct-22

Optus has hired Deloitte to undertake an investigation into its security systems, controls and processes in the wake of its recent data breach, which was the largest in Australian history. Optus CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin has denied there is any rift between it and the federal government, and that the telco is fully co-operating with all requests for information. A number of federal government ministers have criticised Optus for not already having supplied it with details regarding compromised Medicare and Centrelink data, despite Services Australia having given it until 4 October to provide the information.

CORPORATES
SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. SERVICES AUSTRALIA. CENTRELINK, AUSTRALIA. SERVICES AUSTRALIA. MEDICARE AUSTRALIA, DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU LIMITED

Chinese hackers attack local media group

February 10, 2022roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 2 : 10-Feb-22

Cybersecurity firm CyberCX has revealed that a major Australian media company was targeted by hackers on 10 December, immediately after the ‘Log4j’ vulnerability was exposed. CyberCX’s chief strategy officer Alastair MacGibbon says the hackers used techniques that are consistent with Chinese ‘state-sponsored actors’. He adds that media companies are attractive targets for such hackers because they receive and analyse information that has intelligence value. The media company has not been identified, although it is not News Corp; it is also not believed to be Nine Entertainment, which was targeted by a cyber attack in March 2021.

CORPORATES
CYBERCX, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC

Nine’s Domain caught in cyber scam

May 21, 2021roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Sophie Elsworth
The Australian – Page: 3 : 21-May-21

Online real estate portal Domain has increased its security controls in the wake of a cyber-attack. CEO Jason Pellegrino has informed Domain users that their personal information may have been stolen in the phishing attack, which targeted people who inquired about rental properties that had been advertised on Domain. Nine Entertainment Company, which has a 60 per cent stake in Domain, has confirmed that the cyber attack is not related one which disrupted its own operations in March

CORPORATES
DOMAIN HOLDINGS AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX DHA, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC

Nine ads hit in cyber fallout

April 12, 2021roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by James Madden
The Australian – Page: 19 : 12-Apr-21

A Nine Entertainment Company spokesman has declined to comment on media industry claims that the recent cyber attack has cost it several hundred thousand dollars in lost radio advertising revenue. The spokesman says there has been "minimal impact" on ad bookings; however, Nine is believed to still be having problems with the ad booking and placement system for its radio stations, and some of Nine’s clients are said to have placed ads with rival radio broadcasters since the cyber attack occured in late March.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC

Nine’s cyber hack still far from over

April 6, 2021roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Sophie Elsworth
The Australian – Page: 3 : 6-Apr-21

Nine Entertainment Company has informed staff that its technology teams have made "remarkable progress" in restoring its key operational systems in the wake of a major cyber attack. However, the media giant has advised that it will be some time before all systems are fully restored, and many employees have been asked to keep working from home. Cybersecurity experts have estimated that the attack could potentially cost Nine more than $1m. It disrupted Nine’s broadcast operations in Sydney, as well as the print editions of its newspapers.