Cyberattack in Australia 2017: Business Hit by Ransomware

MICROSOFT has responded to the global cyber attack that’s compromised hundreds of thousands, pointing the finger at a big “problem” in the US.

A MASSIVE cyber attack which has hit 200,000 people in at least 150 countries has claimed its first Australian victims and authorities warn more is yet to come.

The Federal Government has confirmed three private businesses have been hit by the unprecedented ransomware attack, which wormed its way into thousands of computer systems around the world in an apparent extortion plot, shutting users out unless they coughed up payment.

Initial reports said just one Australian business had been impacted, but Cyber Security Minister Dan Tehan confirmed two others were also hit in an interview with the ABC this morning.

“We are obviously continuing our investigations but it does seem the figure has gone from one to three,” he told ABC this morning.

“At this stage, it does seem like that we have missed the major impact of this ransomware incident.”

He said the incident was a good reminder for Australians to ensure they did everything possible to be cyber secure.

“People have to be aware that the impact of ransomware at the moment on the Australian economy each year we estimate conservatively at around a billion dollars,” he said.

“We have seen an attack across Europe in particular which has increased the scale of these events.

“We haven’t seen the like of this before but ransomware is occurring here in Australia.”

Australians were urged to update their antivirus software in the wake of the cyber attack that has affected hospitals, organisations and companies across the globe.

Authorities overseas have warned the global malware attack could escalate even further today as the working week begins.

“We are in the face of an escalating threat,” Rob Wainwright, executive director of the international police force Europol, told ITV. “The numbers are going up. I am worried about how the numbers will continue to grow when people go to work and turn their machines on Monday morning.”

Europal warned the threat was escalating and the said the number of “ransomware” victims was likely to grow across the private and public sectors, The Guardianreported.

Friday’s cyber attack has had global ramifications. Photo: istockSource:istock

LIKE HAVING TOMAHAWK MISSILES STOLEN

The vulnerability in Microsoft’s software was first discovered by the National Security Agency (NSA) in the United States and the exploit was dubbed EternalBlue.

Weeks ago a shady hacker collective called Shadow Brokers dumped a load of NSA hacker tools online, including EternalBlue, which ultimately led to the latest attack.

In a blog post, Microsoft highlighted the dangers of law enforcement agencies “stockpiling” such vulnerabilities, comparing it to the US military having ballistic missiles stolen.

“An equivalent scenario with conventional weapons would be the US military having some of its Tomahawk missiles stolen.”

Government agencies losing control of the cyber weapons they accrue is an “emerging pattern” in hacker attacks in 2017.

“We have seen vulnerabilities stored by the CIA show up on WikiLeaks, and now this vulnerability stolen from the NSA has affected customers around the world,” Microsoft said.

The company urged people to update the Windows software on their devices at work and home.

“As cybercriminals become more sophisticated, there is simply no way for customers to protect themselves against threats unless they update their systems,” the company said. “Otherwise they’re literally fighting the problems of the present with tools from the past.”

UK HOSPITALS HIT HARD BY ATTACK

In the UK, the National Health Service has been forced to cancel operations today within its hospitals after computers used to share patients’ test results and scans with doctors remain frozen.

Yesterday, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said authorities were working to confirm if the reports were linked to the global attack.

“The difficulty is, of course, there are literally hundreds of instances of ransomware in Australia each week, so we’re currently seeking to confirm whether these are examples of the particular ransomware that has caused so much havoc for example in the United Kingdom,” she told reporters in Cairns.

Mr Tehan said Australian business boardrooms needed to be conscious of the impacts of ransomware.

“And we’ve got to make sure at a departmental level, government level, departmental heads … that they’re taking the necessary steps,” he told Sky News.

“They’re aware of this. They became aware of it when we had the incident with the Census, so there are no excuses. They get well resourced for their information technology.”

In Perth, Senator Scott Ludlam warned Australians to keep their computers up to date against such threats and hit out against cyberweapon creation by the US.

“We’ve seen what happens when the US NSA … develops hacking tools, effectively weapons for breaking in to ordinary people’s computers then loses control of one of those exploits that has then been effectively weaponised by a criminal organisation that is now seeking to ransom people,” he told reporters.

“I think we need to keep a much closer eye on what government agencies are doing with these cyber weapons because they could’ve tipped off the government, they could have tipped off users of these operating systems but they didn’t, they kept those exploits to themselves.”

Up to 74 countries targeted in ‘global hack’

Global companies were continuing to suffer the effects of the attack. Spanish telco giant Telefonica and US delivery service FedEx were among the businesses affected.

US President Donald Trump has also ordered his homeland security adviser, Tom Bossert, to hold an emergency meeting to assess the threat posed by the global computer ransomware attack. The meeting was ordered on Friday as the global cyber breach unfolded.

Senior security staff held another meeting in the White House Situation Room on Saturday, and the FBI and National Security Agency were trying to identify the perpetrators of the massive cyber attack, said the official, who spoke on condition on anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

Source: http://www.news.com.au/technology/online/hacking/australian-business-hit-by-global-cyber-attack/news-story/d723e2b5443bc0f739f55a37f86105e7