The Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) have joined forces with US and UK agencies to call out a recent rise in ransomware attacks, and to advise organisations on how to stay ahead of them.
Ransomware Most Serious Cybercrime
A report written in 2021 by ACSC reveals that ransomware remains the most serious cybercrime threat to Australia, due to its financial and disruptive components. A shared statement was released by ACSC with the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) in the UK, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the US, highlighting 30 common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVEs) that were routinely exploited by cyber criminals in 2020.
The report also stated the high level of targeted activity against the same weaknesses in 2021. The most regularly exploited CVEs were associated with products and services supplied by Microsoft, Citrix, Pulse, F5-Big IP, MobileIron, Atlassian, Drupal and Telerik.
Australia Holding China Accountable
Australia came together with US and the UK to hold China accountable for the series of attacks that recently targeted Microsoft’s software exchange. The hack impacted thousands of computers and networks worldwide, allowing cybercriminals access to email passwords, account information and administrator logins on Microsoft servers. It was estimated that roughly 30,000 businesses and organisations across the globe were impacted. Karen Andrews, Minister for Home Affairs, released a statement determining that China’s state security had carried out the attack.
“We are doing all that we can to protect Australians and Australian businesses, but understand that this is a two-way street and that businesses need to make sure that they have in place the appropriate measures to keep themselves and their data — which is critically important — cyber secure.”
To help keep your business secure and avoid ransomware attacks, please contact us.
Author: Mahdi Kobeissi, Agilient Consultant