First we had this:
Australia’s major political parties victims of cyber attack by a ‘sophisticated state actor’, PM says
Australia's major political parties hit by cyber attack
- February 18, 2019
The computer networks of Australia’s major political parties have been the subject of a cyber-attack by a “sophisticated state actor”, the Prime Minister has told Parliament.
The news comes after the attempted hack of Australia’s parliamentary network in early February.
“Members will be aware that the Australian Cyber Security Centre recently identified a malicious intrusion into the Australian Parliament House computer network,” Mr Morrison said in a national security statement in the House of Representatives.
“During the course of this work, we also became aware that the networks of some political parties, Liberal, Labor and Nationals have also been affected.
“Our security agencies have detected this activity and acted decisively to confront it.
“Our cyber experts believe that a sophisticated state actor is responsible for this malicious activity.”
Previously Australia has blamed China and Russia for cyber-attacks.
Mr Morrison said there is no proof cyber-attacks have led to electoral interference, but the Australian Electoral Commission is being briefed and any political party will be provided support.
Much more here:
Then this broke.
Leaked client data ‘relatively benign’ LandMark White says
ASX-listed property valuer resumes trading
Rohan Pearce (Computerworld)18 February, 2019 14:47
LandMark White has claimed that the data inadvertently leaked by the property valuation firm and subsequently posted on a ‘darkweb’ forum is “relatively benign”.
Earlier this month the ASX-listed company revealed details of a data breach. It subsequently entered a trading halt to assess the impact on its business, after major banks paused their use of its services.
The leaked dataset “was limited to property valuation and some personal contact information of borrowers, lenders, homeowners, residents, and property age,” the company said in a statement released today.
“The type of information present in the dataset varies from person to person and includes some or all of the following: first and last name, residential and/or business address, email address and contact telephone number. The dataset also includes commentary about the property, relevant to its overall valuation.”
More here:
Then, so Health could grab back its leading breach reputation we had.
Melbourne Heart Group hit by Windows ransomware
- 21 February 2019
- Written by Sam Varghese
The Melbourne Heart Group, a medical unit located at Cabrini Hospital in the Melbourne suburb of Malvern, has been hit by a Windows ransomware attack that has resulted in about 15,000 patients being locked.
The incident, which occurred some three weeks ago, has been reported to the Australian Cyber Security Centre. It was first reported by Nine Entertainment.
An ACSC spokesperson told iTWire that it had been recently alerted to a cyber security incident by the MHG.
"[We] provided cyber security advice and assistance to MHG," the statement added. "As the matter is ongoing, it is not appropriate to comment further."
Lots more here:
and then we moved to job lots!
Catholic Church, major super fund and Toyota hit by cyber attacks
By Farrah Tomazin and Anthony Colangelo
February 21, 2019 — 11.45pm
Cyber attackers have hit Melbourne’s Catholic Archdiocese, demanding a ransom from the church and paralysing its computer system for days, while Australia's biggest corporate superannuation fund, TelstraSuper, has admitted it has also been targeted.
The Age has confirmed the attacks, after revealing on Wednesday that a cyber crime syndicate hacked and scrambled the files of Melbourne Heart Group, a cardiology unit based at Cabrini Hospital.
Car maker Toyota has also been hit by a cyber attack in Australia, with employees locked out of their emails for days. Toyota Australia's servers were targeted on Tuesday and an investigation involving federal authorities is under way into who was behind the potentially malicious cyber attack.
Lots more here:
I have never seen a week like this with so many large reported issues, that I can recall.
Anyone have any theories as to what is going on?
David.
2 comments:
The activity has always been there, to varying degrees, especially in Government. The main difference now is that it has to be reported and it becomes public knowledge, more open to scrutiny and awareness by the general public. Previously it was known about by only those who needed to know and those in the cybersecurity industry.
No theory, but ACSC tightens access controls for Australian government systems has me wondering about access controls for end-users of MyHR, considering how easy it would be to get access to a practice system with a poisoned email.
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