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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
Business etiquette has one golden rule: treat others with respect and care. The same is true for encouraging cyber safety at work, on everything from password security to keeping valuable information like tax file numbers safe. But how can you encourage cyber-safe behaviour at work without becoming the office grouch? The trick, as it often… Read more »
“There is no panacea to the threat of cybercrime, but you can take a measured approach to reducing your risks,” says Ben Jones, co-founder of new cybersecurity startup, Jumpstart Security. Jones and co-founder Saaim Khan are on a mission to make cybersecurity simple and easy for small business owners. Launched in Sydney this week, Jumpstart… Read more »
AustCyber will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of startup hub Stone & Chalk in a merger deal to ensure the future of the government-backed cyber-security group. Launched in 2017, as part of the federal government’s “innovation nation” program, AustCyber was funded through government grants that end in 2022. Among its key achievements during that time were… Read more »
A $3.6 million funds transfer by Cann Group to an overseas contractor building the medicinal cannabis company’s Mildura factory has been stolen in what’s been described as a “complex and sophisticated cyber fraud” by an unknown hacker. The company (ASX: CAN) reported the breach to the market this morning, saying it “experienced a cyber security… Read more »
Data analysis company Nuix’s dramatic debut on the ASX continued for a second day with the company’s share rising 13% to $9.06, having jumped as high as $10.95 in intra-day trade on Monday. Shares in the 20-year-old Sydney-based, global risk, compliance and security software company skyrocketed an astonishing 63% from the $5.31 issue price during… Read more »
New research is questioning the popular notion that cybercriminals can make millions of dollars from the comfort of home — and without much effort. Our paper, published in the journal Trends in Organised Crime, suggests offenders who illegally sell cybercrime tools to other groups aren’t promised automatic success. Indeed, the “crimeware-as-a-service” market is a highly… Read more »
Big four bank NAB has launched the first bug bounty program for Australian banking in a partnership with crowd-sourced security company Bugcrowd. NAB will reward vetted security researchers who uncover previously undisclosed vulnerabilities in the bank’s tech environment. But to take part, you must have an ‘Elite Trust Score’ on the Bugcrowd platform. San Francisco-based Bugcrowd… Read more »
National security is like sausage-making. We might enjoy the tasty product, but want to look away from the manufacturing. Recent news that Chinese company Zhenhua Data is profiling more than 35,000 Australians isn’t a surprise to people with an interest in privacy, security and social networks. We need to think critically about this, knowing we… Read more »
Around 186,000 users of Service NSW – the New South Wales government’s “one-stop shop” for everyone from licences to birth, deaths and marriage, property and the law – will be sent a registered letter notifying them of a data breach labelled a “criminal attack” that saw more than 3.8 million documents (738 gigabytes of data)… Read more »
The Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) has issued a warning to all New Zealand businesses to be prepared for cyber attacks, following almost a week of daily attacks on the New Zealand stock exchange (NZX). The attacks have caused outages, sometimes for hours, of NZX’s public-facing website since Tuesday last week. Today it continued trading… Read more »
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