Tag Archive for: Aussie

Aussie law firm slaps hackers with injunction | Information Age

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Man holding hand up in front of his face

Law firm HWL Ebsworth allegedly had 4TB of data stolen. Photo: Shutterstock

An influential Australian law firm is attempting to use the long arm of the law to stop hackers from publishing its stolen information and block media from publishing leaked data.

The attackers – Russian outfit known as Black Cat or AlphV – revealed it had stolen four terabytes of data from law firm HWL Ebsworth in April by publishing a Tweet stating that the firm had been added to its victim list.

According to media reports, the firm works for the Reserve Bank of Australia, Qatar Airlines and a number of government organisations.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that news of a potential hack sent shockwaves through the nation’s legal fraternity, and that attackers were claiming to have posted some of the data on the dark web.

It is not known whether the firm had received a ransom note.

HWL Ebsworth this week managed to obtain an injunction from the Supreme Court of NSW in an attempt to legally prevent hackers from disclosing its stolen information.

The injunction will also prevent media from reporting any details about the data.

Svenson Barristers senior silk Rodney Barrett KC says the victim of stolen information may have a case to prevent its publication by the media injunction.

“Conceivably, it may even be unconscionable for the media to publish stolen information that is not confidential. All will depend on the circumstances of the case.”

However, the injunction to block cyber hackers has been dubbed ‘futile’ by Professor and Associate Dean (Computer and Security) in the School of Science, Paul Haskell-Dowland.

“A criminal group that engages in illegal acts to obtain confidential data that they then go on to ransom is not likely to be deterred by such action – they already know what they are doing is illegal,” Professor Haskell-Dowland told Information Age.

Some smaller, less experienced criminal groups may be influenced by threats of legal action, but most will shrug off the risks and may even react more aggressively and publish stolen data more readily to ‘teach them a lesson’, he says.

“The idea that the injunction will ‘prevent’ the criminals from posting…

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Aussie superstar ready to launch in North America

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Former Aussie superstar Lochinvar Art (Modern Art) is ready to launch his US harness racing career.

Lochinvar Art

That’s the report from trainer Shane Tritton after the former Victoria and Hunter Cup winner sparkled in a qualifying trial at the famed Meadowlands track this morning (Jan 22 Aussie time) .

Lochinvar Art cruised away from his rivals to win by about three lengths in a 1min52.1sec mile.

“He was sensational,” Tritton said.

“He did that in first gear today, which is exactly what we hoped for.

“The longer we can do that the better, but he’s ready for a race now.

“We’ve some thinking to do … whether we race him this week or wait a fortnight.

“His first run or two will likely be at The Meadowlands. He won’t trial again, he’s off the races now.

“We’re really happy with him and hopefully it’s the start of an exciting time.”

LOCHINVAR ART REPLAY QUALIFIER

For complete results for the qualifying trial, click here.

Lochinvar Art was sent to the US by owner Kevin Gordon after having a small bleed in the lead-up to the Victoria Cup in early October, last year.

Gordon felt he needed to go to the US where Tritton and his wife, Lauren, could treat the superstar pacer with Lasix when he races.

“The timing of when he came was perfect because we haven’t had to rush him at all,” Tritton said.

“Even now, he won’t be fully wound-up when he goes to the races, we can build him as we go.

“There’s that series called the Borgata here in March (at Yonkers). That’s the first target and it will give us a guide as to where to take him when the bigger races start.

“We’re obviously hoping he measures up to the very best races and if he gets right back to his best he should, but there are so many options over here for a horse like him.”

by Adam Hamilton for Harness Racing Australia

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Aussie mobile users most vulnerable to security threats

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Australian smartphone users have been found to be the most susceptible to mobile app threats based on an analysis of devices and apps around the world by mobile security specialist Lookout.

According to the Lookout App Threats Map, Australia topped the world with the highest percentage of mobile app threats detected (26.9%) on a per-device basis, with iPhone users significantly more likely to download a risky application than an Android user.

The findings were derived from Lookout’s security graph, which analyses anonymous telemetry data from over 200 million devices and 160 million apps. The data covers the period from February 2021 to March 2022.

“Australians may have become complacent when it comes to downloading applications to their phones, at a time when risks are higher than ever,” said Don Tan, senior director of Asia-Pacific and Japan at Lookout.

“Across the nation they’ve been using their phones to check in, order food and more – this common usage of phones has perhaps bred a complacency about the applications they’re downloading. But they need to become more vigilant than ever,” he added.

Tan noted that crimes targeting smartphone users can seem low-risk and invisible – “until we see Australia on a map, coloured in red, with the highest number of application threats compared to its global counterparts. That’s when it starts to become very real”.

Amid growing mobile threats, Tan urged Australians to be more vigilant when downloading applications, or this number will rise, and their financial details and other personal information will continue falling into the hands of criminals.”

“It’s important for people to check the links attached to anything they download, as well as the download count and customer reviews on the app store,” he said.

Further to Australia having the highest rate of mobile app threats in the world, Lookout’s analysis found that the vast majority of these threats have come from iOS (30.1%) rather than Android (1.2%) devices.

Tan said this indicated a degree of security complacency among iOS users: “Apple does an outstanding job with mobile security, and because of this strong reputation its users can often…

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Aussie hackers warned against Russian ops | Goulburn Post

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news, national

Australian hackers who take the fight to Russia from home soil could find themselves in legal jeopardy. Global hackers collective Anonymous swiftly declared cyber war on Moscow last month when Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine. And the so called hacktivists have claimed some successes not just against the Kremlin but also the Russian defence department and space agency. Common methods include defacing websites, accessing and stealing information or forcing target sites and networks into shutdown by flooding them with data. Under Australian law, however, such hacking and denial of service attacks are offences. Drafted to crack down on the most vile cyber criminals, including those sharing child exploitation material and using computers and networks for fraud, money laundering and identity theft, the statutes also cover hackers. There are specific commonwealth “computer offences” relating to hacking data and interfering in electronic communications. “People undertaking cybercrime activities from Australia, such as hacking against a foreign government entity, may be committing an offence,” a Home Affairs spokesperson told AAP. The maximum penalty for unauthorised access to, or modification of, restricted data is two years’ imprisonment, while unauthorised impairment of electronic communication could earn 10 years in jail. Ukraine wanted a blackout for Russia from core parts of the internet. But after an official request, the global body in charge of the domain name system, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, has refused to act against Russian websites. Responding to Ukraine Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, ICANN says its mission does not extend to punitive action, issuing sanctions or restricting access – regardless of the provocation. Instead, it has allocated an initial $A1.4 million to support internet access for users within Ukraine. Board Chair Maarten Botterman says ICANN stands for a single, global and neutral Internet that serves all in exercising fundamental human rights, including to seek, receive and impart information and ideas. “This is especially critical when timely access to information and communication may be life saving,” he…

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