By Jim Bulling and Roberta Anderson
The increased risks posed by cybersecurity breaches has meant that many organisation are looking to insurance to address some of the exposure. But cybersecurity insurance is still new and there are things which companies wishing to purchase cybersecurity insurance should look out for. Here are five tips if you are considering obtaining or renewing a cybersecurity insurance policy.
By Cameron Abbott and Melanie Long
On 19 August 2015 the group known as ‘The Impact Team’, who a month earlier hacked into online affair website Ashley Madison, made good on its threat and released a “data dump” of Ashley Madison users’ personal information. A second and larger release of stolen data occurred 2 days later and appears to have included emails sent by Noel Biderman, Ashley Madison’s founder and CEO of parent company Avid Life Media.
Following the release of the stolen data, acting Australian Information Commissioner, Timothy Pilgrim, announced the launch of an investigation into the breach which is to be conducted in liaison with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (where Avid Life Media is based). On 28 August 2015 Noel Biderman stepped down from his role as CEO of Avid Life Media.
Read the ABC news’ article in relation to the first data release here.
ABC news’ article relating to second data release can be found here.
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s press release relating to its investigation can be found here.
By Cameron Abbott and Melanie Long
On 19 July 2015 the Avid Life Media dating website Ashley Madison, which is aimed at married people who want to have an affair, was hacked by a group known as ‘The Impact Team’. The Impact Team has threatened to release users’ profiles if Ashley Madison and other Avid Life Media websites such as Established Men and Cougar life are not shut down. The Impact Team claims to have stolen the details (including names, addresses, credit card numbers and personal sexual fantasies) of over 37 million users.
The story was broken by Brian Krebs, a former cyber crime writer for the Washington Post, on his blog ‘Krebs on Security’. A link to his article, which includes a statement made by Avid Life Media following the hack, can be found here.
by Jim Bulling and Julia Baldi
Pacnet
Pacnet, a subsidiary acquired by Telstra in April 2015, was hit by a major data breach affecting thousands of customers including The Australian Federal Police and government agencies. The breach occurred two weeks before the deal to acquire Pacnet by Telstra was finalised but was not disclosed to Telstra. Telstra is reportedly considering its legal options in respect of both the breach and the non-disclosure by the vendors.
See the Sydney Morning Herald article here.
Airline Computer Hacking
The FBI has alleged that a cybersecurity researcher had hacked into airline computers 15-20 times causing aircrafts to climb against pilot instructions.
See the report here.
by Jim Bulling and Julia Baldi
Primera Blue Cross, a U.S. health insurer announced up to 11 million customers could have been affected by a cyberattack, with hackers gained access to its computers on May 5 2014, and the breach only being discovered on January 29 2015. Affected customers are eligible for two years of free credit monitoring and identify theft protection services.
See the Primera press release here and a CIO article on the breach here.
by Jim Bulling and Julia Baldi
Malaysia Airlines was hacked on 26 January 2015, with visitors to malaysiaairlines.com being confronted by an image of a lizard in a top hat, monocle and tuxedo. In addition, customer data appeared to have been leaked online.
See the Bank Info Security post about the breach here.
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