Australian Government and private sector hit by massive cyber attack

Krusty · Jun 18, 2020

Australia is currently being hit with a massive cyber attack by a “sophisticated, state-based cyber actor”, Prime Minister Scott Morrison says.
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https://www.news.com.au/technology/...k/news-story/b570a8ab68574f42f553fc901fa7d1e9

Krusty · Jun 18, 2020

What we know about the 'sophisticated, state-based' cyber attack on Australia

Every level of Australian government is currently under attack by hackers.

This is what the PM has told us about it so far.
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https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06...n-government-organisations-explained/12373190

mirimir · Jun 19, 2020

This sounds like a complaint about chronic attacks, and not about any particular major ongoing attack.

Krusty · Jun 19, 2020

Yeah, I agree. The media made it sound like something more specific, especially when the PM called for an unscheduled urgent press conference.

Krusty · Jun 19, 2020

An email I just received:

What’s happened?
The Australian Government is currently aware of, and responding to, a sustained targeting of Australian governments and companies by a sophisticated state-based actor.

A range of tactics, techniques and procedures are being used to target multiple Australian networks. It’s important that Australian companies are alert to this threat and take steps to enhance the resilience of their networks. Cyber security is everyone’s responsibility.
What your IT managers can do
The ACSC has produced the following technical advice for Information Technology managers: Advisory 2020-008: Copy-paste compromises - tactics, techniques and procedures used to target multiple Australian networks-tactics-techniques-and-procedures-used-target-multiple-australian-networks.

The advice includes the following mitigation strategies to help reduce the risk of compromise to your systems:

Prompt patching of internet-facing software, operating systems and devices

All exploits utilised by the actor in the course of this campaign were publicly known and had patches or mitigations available. Organisations should ensure that security patches or mitigations are applied to internet-facing infrastructure within 48 hours. Additionally organisations, where possible, should use the latest versions of software and operating systems.

Use of multi-factor authentication across all remote access services

Multi-factor authentication should be applied to all internet-accessible remote access services, including:

web and cloud-based email

collaboration platforms

virtual private network connections

remote desktop services.

More information
While no single mitigation strategy is guaranteed to prevent cyber security incidents, implementing the ACSC’s Essential Eight provides baseline protection.

Find out more on how to become involved in the ACSC Partnership Program.

If you have been a victim of a cybercrime, go to ReportCyber and report it.

For advice with a cyber-security incident, email asd.assist@defence.gov.au.
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Hadron · Jun 19, 2020

This news is currently the top news article on the Daily Mail Australian, United Kingdom and United States front pages.

Krusty · Jun 19, 2020

The plot thickens...

'Cyber attacks' point to China's spy agency, Ministry of State Security, as Huawei payback, say former Australian officials

"Cyber attacks" on Australian government and industry bodies are most likely being directed by China's premier intelligence agency in retaliation for banning telco Huawei from the 5G network, experts have told the ABC.
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https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06...5g-ban-payback-from-china-spy-agency/12374374

China denies being behind cyber attack on Australia, foreign ministry spokesman calls claims 'baseless'

China's government has rejected suggestions a large-scale hacking attack on Australian government departments, service providers and companies came from China, and has blamed an Australian think-tank for making "baseless" claims.

While some Australian government officials have told the ABC they believe China is responsible, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has only said that a "sophisticated state-based actor" is to blame for the attacks.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said he believed the claims of hacking originated from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, which he said was funded by US arms companies and was making fictitious claims about China.

More to come.
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https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06...accusation-of-australia-cyber-attack/12375324

Krusty · Jun 19, 2020

Australian government departments are routinely audited for cyber readiness. Most fail

Government agencies, departments and private companies that have fallen victim to the cyber attack that made headlines yesterday failed to apply routine software updates, according to the Federal Government's cyber security agency.

Government audits going back to 2014 have warned of precisely these deficiencies in key government departments, and the main vulnerability which is being exploited has been known about since early 2019.
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https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06...outinely-audited-for-cyber-readiness/12375050

Krusty · Jun 20, 2020

Defence has imagined modern warfare and Australia is not prepared

(Posted 15 May 2020, updated 15 May 2020)

[...]
Cyberwarfare: 'We may not know until it's well advanced'
The report finds Australia is unprepared for an increasingly likely cyberwar.

"In many ways, we may not even know when a cyber attack or indeed when a cyber campaign against Australian interests has begun," Professor Medcalf says.

"We may not know until it's well advanced. There may be all kinds of preparation, pre-positioning, collection of intelligence — there's already been a wave of intelligence attacks or theft of data from Australia, from companies, from government, even from universities in recent years — so that first wave of cyber conflict may be very difficult to detect."
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https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05...ed-for-security-threats-warns-review/12248332

[...]
"The report found that Australia is certainly underprepared, in some ways unprepared, for full-scale cyber attack."

The National Security College's report of the wargame, also obtained by the ABC under FOI laws, warned a foreign power in a cyberwar "will not just exploit weaknesses in computer systems; they will exploit vulnerabilities in society".

In one of the scenarios considered by the group, an enemy country launches simultaneous cyber attacks on Australia's critical infrastructure, like the electricity grid and military networks, as well as against food supply chains.

In another, the adversary hacks into autonomous vehicles and drones, causing road crashes and igniting bushfires.

In a third scenario, the prime minister is hit by a corruption scandal over payments into his or her bank account, while mass distrust and confusion are sewn by so-called "deep fake" videos of leaders and "false flag" attacks designed to divert blame.

With Australia's cyber systems no longer secure, the nation is isolated from its allies and ejected out of the Five Eyes intelligence community by the US, Canada, the UK and New Zealand.

"It's pretty widely assumed that the powers with the capability and potentially the intent to clash with Australia's interests in cybersecurity are China, Russia and North Korea," Professor Medcalf says.

"It could involve interference in systems or sabotage of critical infrastructure: power, water, sanitation, transport.

"It's not always clear that these could be attributed to a particular state unless the state chose to signal its responsibility or its intent, but cyber conflict instead could occur in a subtle way as part of an overall campaign to pressure Australia to change its policies on a certain issue, an economic issue, or indeed a foreign policy issue."
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guest · Jun 28, 2020

Chinese malware used in attacks against Australian orgs
June 28, 2020
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/ne...ware-used-in-attacks-against-australian-orgs/

The Australian government released an advisory late last week about increased cyber activity from a state actor against networks belonging to its agencies and companies in the country.

Behind the attack is a “sophisticated” adversary that relies on slightly modified proof-of-concept exploit code for yesteryear vulnerabilities, the government says. An unofficial blame finger points to China.
Resilient adversary
The attacker targets public-facing infrastructure with remote code execution exploits, a frequent choice being unpatched versions of Telerik user interface (UI).
The Chinese connection
The toolset used by the intruder makes it difficult to attribute the attacks to a particular actor, although the Australian government is certain that a state-based adversary is at play.
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Krusty · Jun 28, 2020

'This is happening every day and it's like manure': Inside the hacking attacks bombarding Australia

I'm sitting at the kitchen table, staring at my laptop screen and watching red dots pulse on a map of the world.

Each represents a cyber attack underway on one of 12 strategically placed "honeypots'", but not the kind Winnie The Pooh would seek out. These attackers are being lured by online sensors that are rigged to appear like computers loaded with the kind of information a cyber-criminal might go for.

As I watch, one or two red dots becomes 10, then 20, 30, until I lose count. At the bottom of the screen a list of attempted "new attacks" grows longer: Ireland to Australia, China to Australia, Russia to Australia.

Behind every one of these throbbing red dots sits a cyber criminal — maybe someone hidden in plain sight, perhaps stationed at his or her own kitchen table just down the road from me.

Or, the dot could represent a team of cyber criminals concealed in a high-security office building anywhere in the world, launching attacks on another country's information systems on behalf of a nation state.

But who are these people? Who is directing them? What are they after? And most important of all — how can they be stopped?
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https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-29/hacking-cyber-attacks-espionage-china/12398802

hawki · Jun 30, 2020

"Australia to bolster cyber-defences with 500 hackers amid China spat...

Australia will hire 500 hackers as part of a AU$1.35bn (£754m, $925m) boost to protect the nation's networks from a wave of cyber attacks...

The new spend will enable the Cyber Enhanced Situational Awareness and Response unit, or CESAR, to identify more cyber threats, disrupt more foreign cyber criminals, and build more partnerships between industry and government.

Headlining the package is AU$470m to create 500 new jobs within the ASD, an 1,800-strong agency responsible for thwarting cyber attacks..."

https://www.theregister.com/2020/06/30/australia_cyber_defence_fund/

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