Major cyberattack on Australian ports suggests sabotage by a ‘foreign state actor’

Sat, 16 Dec 2023 19:42:40 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://theconversation.com/major-cyberattack-on-australian-ports-suggests-sabotage-by-a-foreign-state-actor-217530>

"A serious cyberattack has disrupted operations at several of Australia’s
largest ports, causing delays and congestion. Late on Friday, port operator DP
World detected an IT breach that affected critical systems used to coordinate
shipping activity.

DP World is one of Australia’s largest port operators, handling approximately
40% of the nation’s container trade across terminals in Brisbane, Sydney,
Melbourne and Fremantle.

DP World reacted quickly to contain the breach, including shutting down access
to their port networks on land, to prevent further unauthorised access. This
means they essentially “pulled the plug” on their internet connection to limit
possible further harm.

DP World senior director Blake Tierney said it is still possible to unload
containers from ships, but the trucks that transport the containers cannot
drive in or out of the terminals. This is a precaution when the full extent of
a data breach is not known.

The latest media reports suggest cargo could be stranded at the ports for
several days.

Australian Federal Police and the Australian Cyber Security Centre are
investigating the source and nature of the attack, deemed a “nationally
significant incident” by federal cybersecurity coordinator Darren Goldie."

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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