cybersecurity
Cyber security

Australian companies are keeping their cyberattacks secret amid a rising ransomeware problem

- September 10, 2021 3 MIN READ

Australia continues to be an easy target for ransomware groups who profit from poor corporate accountability and a culture of secrecy. The number of ransomware incidents affecting local organisations increased by 24 per cent in the first six months of 2021, according to data from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s (OAIC) latest notifiable data breaches report. Unfortunately,… Read more »

cyber hacking
Cyber security

The ANZ and several institutions in New Zealand have been hit by a DDoS cyber attack

- September 8, 2021 < 1 MIN READ

The ANZ bank is among range of institutions, including the New Zealand Post Office, hit by what appears to be a DDoS (distributed denial of service) attack on Wednesday morning. https://twitter.com/ANZ_NZ/status/1435362520630538243   New Zealand’s Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) said it was aware of a DDoS attack, is monitoring the situation and working with affected… Read more »

smishing
Cyber security

Scammers have moved in on Australia Post’s delivery problems with SMS ‘flubots’

- September 3, 2021 3 MIN READ

Australians must be extra cautious about what messages they click on in coming weeks, after Australia Post’s three-day hiatus on package pickups created a new window for cybercriminals tweaking the Flubot ‘smishing’ attack to tap uncertainty around COVID test results, vaccines, and deliveries. More than 5,500 Australians have told the ACCC Scamwatch service that they have received text… Read more »

Cyber security

How the Pegasus spyware works and how to protect your phone from cyber attacks

- July 21, 2021 4 MIN READ

A major journalistic investigation has found evidence of malicious software being used by governments around the world, including allegations of spying on prominent individuals. From a list of more 50,000 phone numbers, journalists identified more than 1,000 people in 50 countries reportedly under surveillance using the Pegasus spyware. The software was developed by the Israeli… Read more »

China, hacker
Cyber security

Australia joins US, UK and EU in saying China was behind the global Microsoft email hack

- July 20, 2021 2 MIN READ

The Australian government has accused China’s Ministry of State Security being behind a global hack of Microsoft’s Exchange email system earlier this year. The announcement, released by Foreign Affairs Minister Senator Marise Payne late on Monday night, alongside Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews and Defence Minister Peter Dutton, coincidences with similar findings announced by leading… Read more »

cyber hacking
Cyber security

The top 5 most dangerous criminal organisations online right now

- July 8, 2021 4 MIN READ

On the internet, nobody knows you’re a dog! These words from Peter Steiner’s famous cartoon could easily be applied to the recent ransomware attack on Florida-based software supplier Kaseya. Kaseya provides software services to thousands of clients around the world. It’s estimated between 800 and 1,500 medium to small businesses may be impacted by the… Read more »

Cyber security

A suspected Russian hack on a US software company has caused a mass ransomware disaster

- July 6, 2021 3 MIN READ

A supply chain attack on Kaseya VSA has caused a mass ransomware event. The attack began with a zero-day vulnerability on Kaseya VSA, a remote monitoring and management tool, which spread to managed service providers (MSPs) and some of their customers. Kaseya, a US-based software company, issued its first warning about the incident on Friday… Read more »

Atlassian
Cyber security

Researchers found a cybersecurity flaw in Atlassian software that left it vulnerable to account takeovers

- June 29, 2021 2 MIN READ

Atlassian products were vulnerable to a hack that could have seen attackers gain access to user accounts, cybersecurity analysts found. Researchers from security firm Check Point discovered a set of flaws which, if exploited, would have enabled bad actors to take over the accounts of Atlassian products like Jira and Bitbucket. The researchers found the training.atlassian.com subdomain… Read more »

butcher, abattoir, meat, beef
Cyber security

The meat processor behind Primo and Hans has closed 47 sites after a cyber attack took out its IT

- June 1, 2021 2 MIN READ

A cyber attack on US meat processing company JBS Foods, which owns the brands Hans and Primo, forced the closure of 47 facilities around Australia on Monday. The attack was confirmed by JBS Australia CEO Brent Eastwood who spoke to industry news site Beef Central, saying he was unsure how long the outage would last. In a… Read more »

Cyber security

If cyber attacks can shut down critical infrastructure. It’s time to make cyber security compulsory

- May 28, 2021 4 MIN READ

On May 7, a pipeline system carrying almost half the fuel used on the east coast of the United States was crippled by a major cyber attack. The five-day shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline resulted in widespread fuel shortages and panic-buying as Virginia, North Carolina and Florida declared a state of emergency. The attack highlights… Read more »

cybersecurity
Cyber security

It’s been a great year for cyberhackers trying to crack open financial services

- May 26, 2021 3 MIN READ

Banks, investment firms and other financial services and insurance (FSI) companies suffered from a massive boost in cybercriminals’ attention during 2020, according to a new analysis that identified 3.4 billion credential-stuffing attacks targeted at FSI firms alone. That included a 45 per cent year-on-year jump in credential stuffing – in which cybercriminals use stolen login credentials to… Read more »

Cyber security

The tech sector says the budget’s response to addressing cybersecurity threats ‘falls short’

- May 14, 2021 3 MIN READ

While technology-industry figures have welcome a smattering of relevant Budget allocations, many have warned that its failings in areas such as skills development and cybersecurity defence will have dire long-term consequences. Despite announcing $1.2b in tech-industry support and tax breaks, this Budget’s biggest technology-industry investments related to the $301.8m expansion of the My Health Record system and… Read more »

cybersecurity
Cyber security

Security flaws in Microsoft’s Exchange software reveals key issues in Australia’s cybersecurity approach

- March 15, 2021 3 MIN READ

On March 2, 2021, Microsoft published information about four critical vulnerabilities in its widely used Exchange email server software that are being actively exploited. It also released security updates for all versions of Exchange back to 2010. Microsoft has told cybersecurity expert Brian Krebs it was notified of the vulnerabilities in “early January”. The Australian… Read more »