cyber attack – Page 2 – Cyber Law Watch

First reported death connected to misfired ransomware attack on German hospital

Sep 18 2020

News reports have surfaced that a woman in Germany has died due to a delay in receiving medical care. What is most concerning about this death is the circumstances in which the woman tragically passed away.

According to reports, the woman needed urgent medical treatment and the hospital she presented to, Duesseldorf University Hospital, was unable to admit her as it was dealing with a ransomware attack.

The hackers exploited a vulnerability in a widely used commercial add-on software. This attack caused a failure in the hospital’s IT systems resulting in it being unable to access data and diverting emergency patients elsewhere. The woman was redirected to a hospital approximately 30km away from Duesseldorf University Hospital, which led to a delay in the woman receiving treatment. Unfortunately the delay proved fatal and the women passed away before she could be treated.

By Cameron Abbott, Keely O’Dowd and Max Evans

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) has released its report on notifications received under the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme for period January to June 2020.

The OAIC reported 518 breaches were notified to it in the relevant period. The OAIC noted a 3% decrease from the 532 breaches notified in the period July 2019 to December 2019. However, there was a 16% increase on the 447 notifications received during January to June 2019.

Aug 04 2020

By Cameron Abbott and Max Evans

In these unprecedented times, where travel around the globe is primarily halted as nations get to grips with controlling the outbreak of COVID-19, many would think it couldn’t get any worse for travel companies. However, they would be wrong, as according to an article from ITNews, American travel management giant CWT has reportedly paid a whopping 414 bitcoin, equivalent to a value of 4.5 Million USD (approximately 6.3 Million AUD), to hackers who successfully exfiltrated over 2 terabytes of sensitive corporate files.

According to the Article, the successful hackers used a strain of ransomware referred to as “Ragnar Locker” which places computer files into a virtual prison through encryption and renders them unusable until the victim pays for the keys. Then in CWT had to negotiate in a public chat forum to pay for the release. It gives us a rare insight into the dialogue that followed. CWT negotiated the hackers down from their initial demand of 10 Million USD. According to the Report, whilst the hackers claimed to have stolen over 2 terabytes of files including financial reports, security documents and employees’ personal data, it was not clear whether any customer data was compromised.

Jul 17 2020

By Cameron Abbott, Warwick Andersen, Rob Pulham and Keely O’Dowd

Reports have surfaced that the Twitter accounts of prominent companies, politicians and celebrities were compromised on Wednesday, 15 July 2020. Hackers were able to gain large scale access to the Twitter accounts of several prominent and influential US personalities and companies to promote a cryptocurrency scam.

It is concerning that the accounts of prominent figures were targeted and compromised. Given the level of influence and prominence several of those individuals have on social media, the hackers had the potential to cause greater havoc. On this occasion, it appears the hackers were financially motivated to perform the cyber attack by seeking “donations” via Bitcoin. The hackers sent out tweets asking people to donate Bitcoin to an address and the Twitter account holder would double the donation.

D’oh! Beer company suffers cyber attack

Jun 15 2020

By Cameron Abbott and Keely O’Dowd

On Tuesday last week, Lion Beer Australia announced it had experienced a cyber incident. During the week, Lion advised there was no evidence to date of any data breaches, but was still investigating the cyber attack. Investigations revealed Lion was subject to a ransomware attack.

A New Low: Red Cross subject to Fraudulent Claims for Bushfire Grants by Cyber Thieves

Mar 02 2020

By Cameron Abbott and Max Evans

If you thought cyber attackers couldn’t go any lower, think again. Cyber thieves are tying up valuable resources at the Australian Red Cross through computer generated applications for bushfire relief assistance, according to an article from the AAP.

According to the article, cyber thieves are using applications to automate hundreds of fraudulent attempts to access financial assistance from the Red Cross, which is distributing grants of up to $20,000 per application with a total grant of around $1,000,000 per day. In one community, there were applications made in respect of 15 homes that purportedly had been destroyed by bushfires, but when physically checked remained unaffected. Go figure!

Don’t let coronavirus get your system infected

Feb 07 2020

By Cameron Abbott and Allison Wallace

You’ve all likely seen various news reports and online posts about the coronavirus epidemic – you may have even received email alerts on how you can protect yourself from being infected.

It turns out cyber criminals are using our curiosity to bait us with fake documents purporting to inform us about coronavirus while actually infecting our systems with malware.

Hospital systems in quarantine after ransomware attack in Victoria

Oct 01 2019

By Cameron Abbott and Allison Wallace

State police and cyber security experts have been called in to help manage a ransomware attack that has forced several hospitals in Victoria to go offline.

Technology mightier than the Sword: US Military’s Secret Cyber Strike stifles Iranian Forces

Aug 30 2019

By Cameron Abbott and Max Evans

Everyone knows the saying “the Pen is mightier than the sword”. The famous saying has been used for centuries to describe the ultimate power of words and communication over forms of violence. However, the rapid implementation and use of technology as a “combat” method doubts whether this saying is correct in a modern technological era, and begs the question as to whether technology is in fact mightier than the sword!

This dilemma is highlighted through the recent cyberstrike conducted by the United States. According to a Report by the Washington Post, in June of this year the Cyber Command of the US Military utilised a technology cyberstrike to target a significant Iranian database in the Persian Gulf. The relevant database was alleged to have been used by the IRGC, Iran’s elite paramilitary force, to damage oil takers and shipping traffic in the Persian Gulf. According to the Pentagon, the operation was in the works for weeks after Iran’s alleged attacks on two US tankers in the Gulf of Oman earlier in June, and following an attack by Iranian forces on an unmanned U.S. Surveillance drone hours earlier, the cyber-strike was immediately given the go-ahead.

Interlopers in Things? IoT devices may be used as backdoors to your network

Aug 27 2019

By Cameron Abbott and Karla Hodgson

This month Microsoft reported that its Threat Intelligence Center discovered that IoT (internet of things) devices – a VOIP phone, a printer and a video decoder – were used to gain access to corporate networks in April.

Microsoft have identified Strontium – also known as Fancy Bear or APT28 – as the culprit, a hacker group associated with the Russian government who appear to be targeting government, IT, military and defence, engineering, medical and education sectors. Strontium has been linked to the hacking of Hillary Clinton’s presidential election campaign and of the email accounts of researchers investigating the missile strike on MH17 and the Skripal poisonings. In the last 12 months alone Microsoft has delivered almost 1,400 notifications to those targeted or compromised by Strontium.

Tag:cyber attack

First reported death connected to misfired ransomware attack on German hospital

Cyber Criminals “King of the (Data Breach) Jungle”: 61% of all Data Breaches caused by Malicious or Criminal Attacks, according to OAIC Report

Can It Get Any Worse? Travel Giant CWT pays $4.5 Million USD ransom to Hackers who Stole Corporate Files and Knocked 30,000 Computers Offline

D’oh! Beer company suffers cyber attack

A New Low: Red Cross subject to Fraudulent Claims for Bushfire Grants by Cyber Thieves

Don’t let coronavirus get your system infected

Hospital systems in quarantine after ransomware attack in Victoria

Technology mightier than the Sword: US Military’s Secret Cyber Strike stifles Iranian Forces

Interlopers in Things? IoT devices may be used as backdoors to your network