Tag Archive for: australian

QUT hack: Major Australian university Queensland University of Technology dealing with cybersecurity attack, QTAC affected

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A major Australian university has become the victim of a cybersecurity attack, affecting major services containing students’ personal information.

The IT department at Queensland University of Technology raised the alarm on Thursday morning.

Several printers began producing suspicious messages in bulk, with students instructed not to interact with the printers until further notice.

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The messages say the university’s system has been “hit”.

Several printers began producing suspicious messages in bulk. Credit: Supplied

“Most likely what happened was that you decided to save some money on your security,” it reads.

“Alas, as a result, your critical data was not only encrypted but also copied.

“From there it can be published online. Then anyone on the internet from darknet…and even your employees will be able to see your internal documentation.”

The message then demanded money in return for data.

Students were sent an email warning them of the cybersecurity attack. Credit: Supplied

QUT reported a cohort of 53,253 students in 2021, as well as over 4500 staff members.

In a statement, a QUT spokesperson stated the university had “experienced a cybersecurity incident today which purports to be a Royal ransomware attack”.

“As a precaution, QUT IT systems have been taken offline while investigations are completed. At this stage, our assessment is that no student or staff data has been compromised.

“Staff and students have been notified. Students wanting to accept their QTAC offer are being contacted to let them know systems are down. They will be advised when the systems are back online.

“Technical staff are currently investigating and QUT has notified the relevant agencies of the situation.”

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Australian Telecom Giant TPG Discloses Email Hack

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Forensics
,
Security Operations

Threat Actors Searched Email Inboxes for Cryptocurrency and Financial Information

Mihir Bagwe (MihirBagwe) •
December 15, 2022    

Australian Telecom Giant TPG Discloses Email Hack
Image: Shutterstock

Australian telecom and internet service provider TPG disclosed a data breach detected by an outside cybersecurity forensics team conducting a historical review.

See Also: Finding a Password Management Solution for Your Enterprise

The Microsoft Exchange email accounts of as many as 15,000 customers at subsidiaries iiNet and Westnet may be affected by the breach, TPG disclosed in a Wednesday filing to the Australian Securities Exchange.

It appears, TPG wrote, that hackers searched inboxes for data on cryptocurrency and other financial information they could steal. “We have implemented measures to stop the unauthorized access, further security measures have been put in place, and we are in the process of contacting all affected customers on the Hosted Exchange service,” the company said. “We have notified the relevant government authorities.”

Consumer products were not affected, the company said. TPG encompasses a slew of brands including mobile carrier and ISP brands such as Vodafone, AAPT, Internode, Lebara and Felix.

Cybersecurity firm Mandiant, now owned by Google, notified the TPG about the attack on Tuesday. Mandiant has an “ongoing engagement to assist with cyber protection” and was in the process of sifting through historical data when analysts spotted the intrusion.

The breach adds to a growing list of cyberattacks on Australia’s telecommunication industry.

Only days ago, Telstra published names, numbers and addresses of over 130,000 customers whose details were supposed to be unlisted. The company blamed a “misalignment of databases” (see: Australian Telecom…

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Ransomware hackers hit Australian defence communications platform

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SYDNEY, Oct 31 (Reuters) – Hackers have targeted a communications platform used by Australian military personnel and defence staff with a ransomware attack, authorities said on Monday, as the country battles a recent spike in cyberattacks across businesses.

The ForceNet service, one of the external providers that the defence department contracts to run one of its websites, has come under attack but so far no data have been compromised, Assistant Minister For Defence Matt Thistlethwaite said.

“I want to stress that this isn’t an attack or a breach on defence (technology) systems and entities,” Thistlethwaite told ABC Radio. “At this stage, there is no evidence that the data set has been breached, that’s the data that this company holds on behalf of defence”.

But some private information such as dates of birth and enlistment details of military personnel may have been stolen, the Australian Broadcasting Corp reported, citing an unidentified source with knowledge of the investigation.

Thistlethwaite said the government will view the incident “very seriously” and all defence personnel have been notified, with suggestions to consider changing their passwords.

A Defence department spokesperson told Reuters in an emailed statement the department was examining the contents of the impacted data set and what personal information it contained.

Ransom software works by encrypting victims’ data and hackers typically will offer the victim a key in return for cryptocurrency payments that can run into the hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars.

Some of Australia’s biggest companies, including No. 2 telecoms company Optus, owned by Singapore Telecommunications Ltd (STEL.SI), and the country’s biggest health insurer, Medibank Private Ltd (MPL.AX), have had data hacked recently, likely exposing the details of millions of customers.

Technology experts said the country has become a target for cyber attacks just as a skills shortage leaves an understaffed, overworked cybersecurity workforce ill-equipped to stop it. read more

Reporting by Renju Jose; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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If you can crack the code on the new 50 cent coin, the Australian cyber-spy agency wants to hear from you | Katherine Times

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A new 50 cent coin, released by the Royal Australian Mint today, celebrates the importance of code breaking and evolution of signals intelligence – and if you can work out what is written on the coin, the Australian cyber-spy agency wants to hear from you.

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