Catagory:Managing Threats & Attacks

1
You Can’t Throw the (Face)Book at Them: Affected Users Unable to Pursue Damages Claim against Facebook
2
A JEDI Uses the Force for Knowledge and Defense: The Pentagon awards US$10billion JEDI cloud deal to Microsoft
3
Double-Edged Sword: Cambridge Analytica Whistle-Blower exposes the dual nature of Technology
4
Could your ERP system make you a victim of cybercrime?
5
Insufficiency meets Punishment: Polish DPA issues largest fine for Insufficient Security and Organisational Measures
6
The FBI understands if you pay ransom to cyber hackers, but isn’t too pleased about it
7
Update on the Criminalisation of Non-Consensual Distribution of Intimate Images in WA: Another Conviction in Australia
8
Aviation Sector Resolves to Protect Industry from Cyber Threats
9
Hospital systems in quarantine after ransomware attack in Victoria
10
Riding in cars with hackers

You Can’t Throw the (Face)Book at Them: Affected Users Unable to Pursue Damages Claim against Facebook

By Cameron Abbott, Max Evans and James Gray

A US federal judge has ruled that the 29 million Facebook users affected by the September 2018 data breach may not seek damages as a remedy, but can only pursue the enforcement of better security practices at Facebook, according to a report by Reuters. Judge Alsup of the US District Court stated that Facebook’s repetitive losses of users’ privacy indicated a long-term need for supervision, which comes in addition to prior judgment which indicated that Facebook’s views about user’s privacy expectations were “so wrong”.

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A JEDI Uses the Force for Knowledge and Defense: The Pentagon awards US$10billion JEDI cloud deal to Microsoft

By Cameron Abbott and Tan Xin Ya

In October, the US Department of Defence (DoD) awarded the Joint Enterprise Defence Infrastructure (JEDI) contract to Microsoft to overhaul its IT infrastructure – a huge show of confidence in infrastructure as a service (IaaS).

The DoD’s award of the 10-year, $10 billion JEDI contract to Microsoft is an endorsement of the secure nature of Azure, Microsoft’s cloud computing service. Under this deal, Microsoft’s task is to create a globally responsive network and monitor ongoing issues such as bugs and breaches. Part of the deal involves moving sensitive data, including classified mission operations, to Microsoft Azure. The system must be fortified with robust cyber security and encryption as Microsoft bears the important responsibility for the defence of the US.

The DoD’s decision to move to the cloud is a clear signal that IaaS has come of age, considering when such a security sensitive operation is able to use the service.

Double-Edged Sword: Cambridge Analytica Whistle-Blower exposes the dual nature of Technology

By Cameron Abbott, Max Evans and James Gray

In his cautionary tale, 1984, author George Orwell spoke of a paradigm where the unregulated use of powerful technology, referred to as “telescreens”, manifested a society beholden to the ethics of the controller. This paradigm is perhaps more real than ever, according to an article by Reuters

By exploring the views of Cambridge Analytica whistle-blower Christopher Wylie, the article advises that the deep, multifaceted involvement of big tech companies in consumers’ lives, the ultimate dependence that arises from such involvement and the overwhelming vulnerability of such consumers renders tech companies “too big to fail”. Wylie argues that the vast imbalance of power and information in favour of these companies over users is resulting in a constant scrambling by regulators to control the rapid adoption of such technology forms.

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Could your ERP system make you a victim of cybercrime?

By Cameron Abbott and Allison Wallace

We frequently blog here about incidents where companies, government agencies or public have suffered data or security breaches at the hands of hackers. They’re often incidents that come to light because they affect the public in some way – by shutting down hospitals, exposing sensitive personal information, or threatening government security. But what about hacks that, while not having wide-reaching public implications, go to the core of a business’ operations?

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Insufficiency meets Punishment: Polish DPA issues largest fine for Insufficient Security and Organisational Measures

By Cameron Abbott and Max Evans

Further to the Facebook and Tesco scandals, and the apparent statistic increase of enforcement fines issued, the Polish Data Protection Authority has issued a landmark fine of €645,000 against online retail company morele.net for insufficient security and organisational measures violating data confidentiality and integrity principles prescribed in the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation.

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The FBI understands if you pay ransom to cyber hackers, but isn’t too pleased about it

By Cameron Abbott and Karla Hodgson

While the FBI won’t be impressed if you pay ransomware demands in order to get your systems or data back after a cyber attack, its updated ransomware guidance contemplates that this might just be the outcome of an attack anyway.

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Update on the Criminalisation of Non-Consensual Distribution of Intimate Images in WA: Another Conviction in Australia

By Olivia O’Brien, Philip Murray and Kathleen Weston

Just a few months ago, we published an article on the criminalisation of the non-consensual distribution of intimate images in Western Australia. Only this week, there has been a second successful conviction under the Criminal Law Amendment (Intimate Images) Act 2018 (WA) (WA Act) in the Rockingham Magistrate’s Court.

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Aviation Sector Resolves to Protect Industry from Cyber Threats

By Cameron Abbott and Karla Hodgson

Cybersecurity is now well and truly a priority for the aviation sector, with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) adopting an action-oriented cybersecurity resolution at its 40th Triennial Assembly earlier this month.

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Riding in cars with hackers

By Cameron Abbott, Michelle Aggromito and Alyssia Totham

Ransom-based hacking techniques have primarily been limited to the intangible. We live in a world where unauthorised access to email accounts, bank accounts, and computer systems that may otherwise be private is no longer uncommon.

In some situations, hackers demand a lump sum in return for reinstating control of the accounts and systems to its owners and managers, and otherwise refusing to pay this ransom can likely leave our information and data at the mercy of hackers.

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