Australia responds to 'cyber incident' affecting ports

Australia responds to 'cyber incident' affecting ports

The 'cyber securiry incident' has affected operations at ports in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Fremantle
The 'cyber securiry incident' has affected operations at ports in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Fremantle. Photo: SAEED KHAN / AFP/File
Source: AFP

The Australian government said Saturday it was responding to a "significant cyber security incident" affecting several ports operated by DP World Australia that could last a number of days.

Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil said on social media platform X the government was coordinating a response to the incident and that authorities were working with DP World Australia "to understand the impacts".

O'Neil said the national crisis management framework employed during the Covid-19 pandemic was being used in response to the incident.

DP World Australia did not respond immediately to a request for comment from AFP.

However, the ports operator said in a statement quoted by The Sydney Morning Herald it had "restricted landside access to our Australian port operations while we continue our investigation" to safeguard employees, customers and its networks.

Read also

Myanmar fighting blocks key trade routes with China

National Cyber Security Coordinator Darren Goldie said on X, formerly Twitter, that the "interruption is likely to continue for a number of days and will impact the movement of goods into and out of the country".

"DP World Australia has advised it has restricted access to its Australian port operations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Fremantle while it investigates the incident," he said.

The Australian Cyber Security Centre, which leads the government's digital security responses, was advising the port operator and "providing technical advice and assistance", he said.

The National Emergency Management Agency and National Coordination Mechanism, which streamlines a crisis response, will meet together on Sunday, Goldie said, adding that federal police have launched an investigation.

Goldie, an air marshal in the Royal Australian Air Force, was appointed the inaugural national coordinator last July in response to a number of key cyber attacks.

Read also

US arm of China mega-lender ICBC hit by ransomware attack

Cybersecurity experts have said inadequate safeguards and the stockpiling of sensitive customer information have made Australia a lucrative target in the eyes of hackers.

Medibank, Australia's largest private health insurer, said in November 2022 that hackers had accessed the data of 9.7 million current and former customers, including medical records related to drug abuse and pregnancy terminations.

Just two months earlier, telecom company Optus fell prey to a data breach of similar scale in which the personal details of up to 9.8 million people were accessed.

Those two incidents were among the largest data breaches in Australian history.

Optus, Australia's second-largest phone provider, apologised to its more than 10 million customers this week over a "technical network outage" that crashed electronic payments, disrupted phone lines used by emergency services and stopped people accessing government services.

The Australian government has launched an investigation into that unexplained glitch, although it has not been described as a cyber attack.

Read also

Australia launches investigation into major telecoms outage

There were 76,000 cybercrimes reported to the Australian Cyber Security Centre last year, although experts warn many more go unreported.

PAY ATTENTION: Сheck out news that is picked exactly for YOU ➡️ click on “Recommended for you” and enjoy!

Source: AFP

Authors:
AFP avatar

AFP AFP text, photo, graphic, audio or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. AFP news material may not be stored in whole or in part in a computer or otherwise except for personal and non-commercial use. AFP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions in any AFP news material or in transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages whatsoever. As a newswire service, AFP does not obtain releases from subjects, individuals, groups or entities contained in its photographs, videos, graphics or quoted in its texts. Further, no clearance is obtained from the owners of any trademarks or copyrighted materials whose marks and materials are included in AFP material. Therefore you will be solely responsible for obtaining any and all necessary releases from whatever individuals and/or entities necessary for any uses of AFP material.