Cyber Security – Cyber Law Watch

Disclosure Obligations for Cyber Ransom Payments: A New Cyber Security Act is Coming

Aug 12 2024

By Cameron Abbott, Rob Pulham, Stephanie Mayhew, Dadar Ahmadi-Pirshahid and Lauren Hrysomallis

A new Cyber Security Act is set to be unveiled in Parliament’s next sitting from 12 August, as reported by the ABC. The proposed Act would require Australian businesses and government bodies to disclose when they make a ransom payment to cybercriminals in the event of a hack, or face penalties of up to AU$15,000 for failing to notify.

Australia’s Privacy Framework set to be Revamped Following the Government’s Response to the Privacy Act Review Report

Oct 13 2023

By: Cameron Abbott, Rob Pulham, Stephanie Mayhew,and Maddy Bassal

Last week the federal Government released its response (the Response) to the recommendations proposed by the AGD’s Privacy Act Review Report released in February 2023 (the Report).

Critical Vulnerability: Vulnerability in Widely Used Open Source Software is Discovered

Dec 24 2021

By Cameron Abbott, Rob Pulham, Max Evans and Ella Krygier

A critical security vulnerability has been discovered in Apache Log4j, an open-source logging library used by many popular Java applications to provide logging functionality for troubleshooting purposes, according to the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC).

The software’s vulnerability, known as Log4Shell, allows for remote code execution, which, if left unfixed, could allow cybercriminals to take control of IT systems, steal personal data, passwords and files, and install backdoors for future access, simply by adding an additional line of arbitrary code. According to the ACSC, malicious cyber actors have used this vulnerability to target and compromise IT systems globally and in Australia, which led the ACSC to publish advice on mitigation and detection recommendations.

Apr 01 2021

By Cameron Abbott, Warwick Andersen, Rob Pulham and Max Evans

Channel Nine has suffered the largest cyber attack on a media company in Australia’s history, according to reports from IT News, the AFR and Nine News.

The cyber attack, reported by Channel Nine as a variation of a ransomware attack, struck early Sunday morning, resulting in television and digital production systems being offline for more than 24 hours. The attack impaired Channel Nine’s ability to broadcast from its Sydney studios, forcing the media outlet to shift operations to its Melbourne studios.

“This is a public health app, it’s not a surveillance app”: Review finds “nothing particularly disturbing” about the Federal Government’s coronavirus tracing app

Apr 23 2020

By Cameron Abbott, Rob Pulham, Michelle Aggromito and Rebecca Gill

The Federal Government’s coronavirus tracing app has raised some privacy concerns amongst the Australian public. Even some of our government Ministers have ruled out downloading the app due to such concerns! However, the independent cyber security body tasked with reviewing the app has said that it has found no major concerns with it.

Taking its Toll: Toll Shuts Down IT Systems Citing Cyber-Security Incident

Feb 05 2020

By Cameron Abbott, Max Evans and Florence Fermanis

We have our first large scale data breach of the decade. Toll, a transport and logistics network which delivers up to 95 million items globally every year, has temporarily shut down a number of its IT systems as a precautionary measure after suffering a cyber-security breach on Friday, according to an article by the SMH.

A spokesperson has indicated that Toll has cybersecurity experts working closely with their IT team on the breach, and is taking careful internal measures so that systems can be brought back up online in a “controlled and secured manner”. Additionally, Toll has initiated business continuity plans to minimise the disturbance brought on by the breach. While any official numbers of affected customers and the exact nature and extent of the breach have not yet been released by Toll, The Register has reported that the breach has reportedly affected customers in Australia, India and the Philippines.

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.

A Different Immune System: TGA provides Insight into Cyber Security for Medical Devices

Aug 01 2019

By Cameron Abbott, Michelle Aggromito and Max Evans

The Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has published its guidance framework dealing with medical device cyber security for manufacturers and sponsors of medical devices, as well as for consumers, health professionals and other users. This is driven by a number of challenges that regulators face to protect users against cyber security risks, including the alteration of device function, loss to privacy and the alteration of personal health data.

The crux of the framework is based on the TGA view that knowledge is power, in that patients using connected medical devices should be informed about the potential cyber security risks those devices have, and take proactive measures to protect their devices and networks.

The battle against phishing

Jul 23 2019

By Cameron Abbott, Michelle Aggromito and Jacqueline Patishman

All over the world, organisations and individuals battle phishing. Even in systems with a high degree of security, phishing is still a risk and human failures to spot and deal with phishing can cause the best of security policies and procedures to become undone.

To fight phishing at the source, the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) recently achieved some success in this space through its use of email verification technology to fight phishing attacks. This technology, called ‘Synthetic DMARC’, works by assigning a DMARC record for all domains attempting to pass-off as gov.uk domains, by analysing and vetting non-existing subdomains against DNS records and building on authentication systems of the past.

Tag:Cyber Security