Cyber Law Watch – Page 23 – Insight on how cyber risk is being mitigated and managed across the globe

PROPOSAL TO INCREASE PENALTIES FOR PRIVACY BREACHES

Mar 26 2019

In light of concerns over how personal data is being used by social media platforms and tech companies, the Commonwealth Government has proposed amendments to the Privacy Act in order to more harshly penalise companies for privacy breaches. The new regime, which aims to update Australia’s privacy laws in line with increased social media use, will see tougher penalties for all entities that are subject to the Privacy Act, not just the headline companies like Google and Facebook.

The Commonwealth Government proposes to increase the penalties for serious or repeated breaches by such entities from $2.1 million to $10 million, or three times the value of any benefit obtained through the misuse of information, or 10 per cent of a company’s annual domestic turnover – whichever is the greater value.

Tourists aren’t the only thing visiting London’s hotspots

Mar 22 2019

By Cameron Abbott and Ella Richards

Over 100 million cyber-attacks have hit London’s top tourist attractions over the past few years, signalling hackers turning their attention to the treasure trove of customer’s personal data and related opportunities for ransomware attacks.

Kew Gardens experienced an incredible 86 million attacks during 2018 and has seen a 438% increase in attacks year-on-year. Personal and financial details of over 100,000 of its members and over 800 staff are highly sought after, with 82 million spyware attempts and 1.6 million information-stealing attempts last financial year alone. Although Kew Gardens have performed admirably in mitigating the attacks, a major server breach in 2017-2018 and an incident involving a compromised email address managed to slip through.

Imperial War Museum was the next highest target; with over 10 million cyber security incidents spread over three years and 8 successful ransomware attacks within that time. The Natural History Museum tallied 875,414 cyber-attacks over three years, of which 26,610 were considered ‘unmitigated’ threats.

Lastly, Tate Gallery (which oversees the Tate Modern Tate Britain Galleries) was subject to 494,709 attacks last year alone, however only four attacks featuring malware and phishing software were successful.

These attacks demonstrate hacker’s increasing focus on personal and financial data, which tourist hotspots and museums collect in enormous volumes on a daily basis. Sheila Flavell (COO of FDM Group) points out that in the wake of these incidents, the UK needs to increase their level of cyber expertise by attracting more people into the tech industry. We agree there are not going to be many unemployed cybersecurity consultants with this sort of scale of activities!

Thailand joins the party of legislated Data Protection

Mar 21 2019

By Cameron Abbott and Ella Richards

Following tireless attempts spanning over two decades, Thailand has finally approved the Thailand Personal Data Protection Act (“PDPA”), subject to royal endorsement and publication in the Government Gazette. Previously, the only right pertaining to personal privacy was located in the Thai Constitution, and while certain business sectors (such as telecommunications, healthcare and banking) had some protection, there was an absence of a singular consolidated data protection regime.

You may notice the broad similarity between the PDPA and the European Union’s GDPR; but don’t get too excited. Although various concepts have been drawn from the GDPR, the PDPA has been written with consideration of Thai perspectives, and therefor careful examination of compliance requirements of both regimes will be necessary.

Once the PDPA is published in the Government Gazette, Thailand will allow a transition period for businesses to adapt their practices (as the PDPA will apply to most entities onshore and offshore).

So, what can we do to prepare for the PDPA now?

Any company collecting data from residents of Thailand should ensure they’re in compliance before the PDPA comes into effect. Penalties for non-compliance will be severe, so an evaluation of business procedures will be necessary to determine if additional measures need to be adopted.

IoT (internet of things) legislation makes an appearance in the U.S. Senate

Mar 19 2019

By Cameron Abbott and Ella Richards

For those who are not familiar with the acronym, IoT or ‘Internet of things’ refers to the interconnection of network devices and everyday objects for increased control and ease of use.

The US Government has been steadily increasing the amount of IoT devices used in day-to-day business. In response to mounting concerns surrounding this, a bipartisan group in the Senate revealed a piece of legislation that will govern the use of IoT devices in the government context.

Ransomware attack hits the state of Georgia

Mar 18 2019

By Cameron Abbott and Ella Richards

Jackson County in Georgia has been held ransom after cyber-attackers deployed ransomware that crippled the government’s IT network for 2 weeks. Government officials resorted to coughing up $400,000 in bitcoin to pay the ransom, desperately trying to get out of the offline ‘pen and paper’ situation the attack had left them in. The suspected ransomware, ‘Ryuk’, caught the eye of the authorities at the end of 2018 after it started affecting the printing presses of Tribune Publishing. Due to the highly problematic decryption tool that is provided once the ransom is paid, Ryuk has the frightening capacity to destroy businesses which cannot survive in downtime or do not have restorable backups.

Read further about the incident here: https://www.bankinfosecurity.com/georgia-county-pays-400000-to-ransomware-attackers-a-12159

Un-“tapped” Potential: Gen Z and transactions

Mar 08 2019

By Cameron Abbott and Sara Zokaei Fard

Gen Z, those born between 1995 and 2005, are pushing innovation in the payment and transaction space with higher expectations from mobile experiences. Gone are the days that a credit card was swiped and bank transfers were used, transacting with an iPhone using Apple Pay and using PayPal is now taking the forefront.

American Express has released data showing that 68% of Gen Z’ers say they want instant person-to-person payments! This instantaneous requirement is also reflected in Gen Z’s use of membership programs. Membership cards are a thing of the past with digital rewards programs via apps now replacing cards.

The data also explores what factors would stop Gen Z from using a product or service in contrast to Gen Y. Interestingly, poor responsiveness on social media would stop 9% of Gen Y but more than double that figure, 21% for Gen Z. Even more stunningly four out of five Gen Z’ers are comfortable at openly conceding that they allow social media to influence their purchasing decisions!

The mobile phone is the ubiquitous device of this generation, try to drive their behaviour with yesterday’s technology and paradigms at your peril!

Ratings agency starting to factor in Cyber risk profile

Mar 08 2019

By Cameron Abbott and Wendy Mansell

A recent report released by Moody’s Investors Services has shed some light on which business sectors are most at risk for cyberattacks.

After assessing 35 broad sectors it was concluded that banks, hospitals, security firms and market infrastructure providers face the highest risk. This was based on levels of vulnerability and the potential impact an attack would have.

The key determinative factor for these sectors is that they all rely strongly on technology and the vital role of confidential information in their operations.

The financial repercussions following a cyberattack in each of these sectors is extremely significant when considering the costs of insurance, penalties, consumer impact, potential litigation costs, R&D and technological impact to name a few.

The financial market is so high risk because of the financial and commercial data it holds and ever increasing fact that its services are being offered digitally, across multiple platforms i.e banking mobile/smart watch apps.

On a similar note because medical records are primarily collected and held in electronic form hospitals are very attractive to hackers given the sensitive nature of the data.

While the industries should not be a shock to the reader, it is important for participants in those industries and for suppliers to those participants to realise the risk profile that attaches to them and have procedures in place reflective of those risk levels. How one manages these risks in now likely to have indirect cost implications when you see ratings agencies like Moody’s assessing these sorts of areas.

Cyber attacks becoming common place: Different industries, similar methods

Feb 24 2019

By Cameron Abbott and Ella Richards

Popular car manufacturer Toyota has been hit by a malicious attack rendering their employees completely unable to access their emails. It is unclear whether any customer or employee data has been accessed, and Toyota is going to extensive efforts to discover the origin of the attack.

Staff who are powering on despite their access restrictions have been told to use face-to-face, phone and text communication until the emailing system is back online. Can you imagine!

Although the central server system is inaccessible, dealerships are continuing to operate normally besides being able to provide customers with the date they’ll receive their exciting new car.

Additionally, Melbourne Heart Group was subject to a cyber attack which completely locked them out of their filing system. 15,000 files were scrambled and held for ransom after a cyber crime syndicate hacked into their server, blocked all access to files and demanded a cryptocurrency payment be made.

Melbourne Heart Group is based at Cabrini Hospital in Malvern, but the separation of their systems ensured that no Cabrini operations were affected. Even though a payment was made to decrypt their servers, information including patient details and sensitive medical records are yet to be recovered.

Payment in these situations is always troubling, dealing with faceless individuals, having to trade in cryptocurrencies in order to chart a course to the fastest resolution.

Major political parties join the Federal Parliament in the February data breach

Feb 21 2019

By Cameron Abbott and Ella Richards

Following an unprecedented surge in cyber attacks against Australian businesses, an attack on Australia’s political infrastructure was imminent. New information reveals that the cyber attack against the Federal Parliament earlier this year was accompanied by yet another directed towards the Liberal, Labour and National parties.

To encrypt or not encrypt? That is the question

Feb 18 2019

By Cameron Abbott and Ella Richards

In response to the new controversial anti-encryption laws, Australian tech heavyweights have banded together to kick and scream over the restrictive implications the laws are already having on their industry.

Quick history lesson; the Assistance and Access Bill permit law enforcement to demand companies running applications such as Whatsapp to allow “lawful access to information”. This can be through either decryption of encrypted technology, or providing access to communications which are not yet encrypted. These ‘backdoors’ are intended to provide the good guys with the opportunity to fight serious crime, however there’s serious fear that in reality, these doors could throw out privacy or let in unwanted guests.

While the legislation states that backdoors should only be created if it doesn’t result in any ‘systemic weakness’; this is yet to be defined in a concrete and informative way. Industry points out that once created any such measure has the potential to be exploited by others. There is no such thing as a “once” only back door.

There is little doubt that this will end up in litigation as larger industry players challenge the abstract concepts in the legislation against the reality of their technology.

StartupAUS, an industry group of tech executives, have made several recommendations to amend the legislation. Even though they’re not holding their breath for any significant changes, they’re demanding more transparency around the requirements. Their recommendations include scrapping the requirement for an employee to build capabilities to intercept communications, tightening the scope of ‘designated communication providers’, giving oversight on how companies will be targeted and increasing what constitutes a ‘serious offence’.

Australia’s legislative response to the problem faced by law enforcement is one of the most heavy handed in the democratic world, and now has the world of technology companies with their significant impact on our economy watching the latest debate on reforms with great concern.