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Up to 3 million Australian homes were separated from power outages after a major energy network was hit by a ransomware attack from hackers in November.
Queensland’s CS Energy was exposed to a persistent ransomware attack on November 27th. This states that CEOs are anxiously accelerating.
The attack was stopped shortly before the company’s two steam-fired power plants could be closed.
If the damage had taken hold, it could have robbed the grid of 35,000 MW of electricity and left 1.4 to 3 million homes in the dark.
The attack reportedly allowed many employees to be denied access to email and disable many corporate systems in the company, even though the attack did not reach the generator.
“CS Energy has moved quickly to contain the incident by separating the corporate network from other internal networks and establishing a business continuity process,” said Andrew Bills, CEO of CS Energy.
“We will immediately notify the relevant state and federal agencies and work closely with them and other security experts.”
Bills said cyber events are “a trend of growth in Australia and abroad.”
“While this incident may have affected our corporate network, we continue to focus on ensuring that CS Energy continues to power Queenslander with advanced resilience skills. I’m fortunate to have a labor force. “
Prime Minister Scott Morrison I got it On Wednesday, Australian cyber authorities played an important role in stopping the attack.
“The Australian Government has taken early action in dealing with people who are directly under threat and has been able to prevent the worst of those scenarios,” Morrison said. I did.
“It was the early actions of the cyber authorities that avoided the bad consequences there, and I would like to thank them for their wonderful work. The cyber threat to Australia is a reality not only in defense but also in private space. We know that it is. “
Morrison also emphasized that criminals are trying to take advantage of Australians and Australian businesses.
“It’s very important for Australian companies to listen carefully and get the advice of cyber security agencies,” he said. “Australia is one of the world leaders in this field, so the United States was able to sign an agreement with the United States because it knows the wonders of people in this field. And it works with Australia. It was one of the attractions of that, because we complement each other in the UK and are pacesetters when it comes to cybersecurity. “
Morrison also refused to confirm previous reports that the attack was carried out by a Chinese hacker after a Newscorp publication on Wednesday associated the attack with a Chinese hacker.
But Queensland National Senator Matt Canavan told Nine Network Wednesday that the attack would secure Australia and reduce its reliance on China, which “behaves like a bully in our area.” He said he emphasized how important things are.
“This is not an attack or suspicion of an attack on an Australian government agency … against a private company in Queensland.”
Michael Shoebridge of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute told The Epoch Times on June 19 that Beijing is likely to be the “state-based cyberattacker” behind the rise in cyberattacks on Australia.
“When it comes to Australia, the Russians have no intentions. They have a large two-way relationship, and because Australia’s decisions in our national interest are influencing global debate. Does not have the same deep interest that Beijing has for Australia, in a way that Beijing does not like, “said Schubridge.
“China’s cyber activity is even bigger because it is wealthy and has a lot of homemade technology available, and the efforts of state-owned enterprises that force state-owned and private enterprises to work for the country. But it also enhances their abilities. “
Cybercrime this year Report from the Australian Cyber Security Center (ACSC)The ASD division, which is at the forefront of defense against cyber incidents in Australia, has shown that cyber attacks have increased by 13% in the last 12 months.
A quarter of all cyberattacks against Australia targeted energy, water, telecommunications, medical services, and other critical infrastructure, said Rachel Noble, Secretary of the Australian Signal Authority (ASD). I am. Attack operation on November 18th.
Earlier this year, Interior Minister Karen Andrews said cybersecurity was her “top priority.”
“We are very aware that many countries, including China, have significantly improved their cyber capabilities. Australia is also increasing its legitimate and legitimate cyber activities.”
In November, Australia passed a new law that could threaten cyber attackers with swift retaliation, while allowing the government to install software on private enterprise systems in response to cyber attacks.
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Nina Nguyen is a Sydney-based Vietnamese reporter with a focus on Australian news. Contact her at [email protected].
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