{"id":29731,"date":"2016-11-30T12:30:05","date_gmt":"2016-11-30T01:30:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=29731"},"modified":"2016-11-30T12:35:42","modified_gmt":"2016-11-30T01:35:42","slug":"cyber-wrap-145","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/cyber-wrap-145\/","title":{"rendered":"Cyber wrap"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The consequences of August\u2019s #censusfail<\/a> continue to reverberate in Canberra, and two reports released last week\u2014one by the PM\u2019s Special Adviser on Cyber Security<\/a>, Alastair MacGibbon; the other by the Senate\u2019s Economics Committee<\/a>\u2014pull no punches. Both reports are highly critical<\/a> of the Australian Bureau of Statistics and IBM for the planning, management and response to the census debacle. MacGibbon\u2019s report noted that the ABS had no \u2018clearly identified and tested cyber security incident response processes\u2019, resulting in ad-hoc decision-making, and that the government\u2019s Cyber Incident Management Arrangements were similarly inadequate.<\/p>\n MacGibbon\u2019s report also recommends that a \u2018Cyber Bootcamp\u2019<\/a> for senior government executives and Ministers should be instituted to educate them on cyber risks and crisis communications. IBM was called out<\/a> for its failure to plan for and test its response to foreseeable incidents such as a DDoS, and both reports criticised the single-source tender approach by the ABS to the procurement of IBM\u2019s services. The government has reached a settlement with IBM<\/a> for an unspecified amount.<\/p>\n In a speech at the National Press Club<\/a> last week, the Minister Assisting the PM for Cybersecurity, Dan Tehan, warned that Australia remains vulnerable to a \u2018cyberstorm\u2019<\/a>, an attack that could knock out power, telecommunications, emergency services and financial networks. Tehan admitted that the government had much to do to protect Australia from cyber threats, and that implementation of the Cyber Security Strategy should be accelerated. His focus is on making government departments accountable for their own security, greater transparency from government on cyber security incidents, fighting cybercrime, and protecting critical infrastructure. Tehan also announced that he\u2019ll initiate quarterly meetings with business leaders to discuss cyber security, starting in December.<\/p>\n Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has\u00a0announced that Australia is conducting offensive cyber operations<\/a> against the Islamic State. The PM wouldn\u2019t be drawn on exactly what was being done<\/a>, but was careful to note that Australia\u2019s offensive cyber operations against IS are subject to the same Rules of Engagement, legal oversight and consistency with international law as Australia\u2019s kinetic military capabilities in the Middle East. The nature of offensive cyber operations is usually obscured for operational security reasons, but ICPC fellow Jim Lewis\u2019 publication \u2018Cyberspace and armed forces\u2019<\/a> gives some insight. Lewis notes that \u2018most cyberattacks will produce intangible effects. Expanding the \u2018fog of war\u2019 creates indecision and slows opponents\u2019 reactions in ways that confer military advantage.\u2019<\/p>\n The PM also announced last week that Julie Inman Grant will be Australia\u2019s new eSafety Commissioner<\/a>, filling the post left vacant by Alastair MacGibbon. Inman Grant will be responsible for implementing the new online reporting tool for revenge pornography<\/a> announced by government in October as part of the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women<\/a>.<\/p>\n There have been several hacking incidents across the world this week. The Japan Times<\/em> has reported<\/a> that Japan\u2019s Ministry of Defense and Self Defense Force\u2019s internal network, the Defense Information Infrastructure, was breached in September by a \u2018sophisticated cyberattack.\u2019 It\u2019s believed that the hackers gained access to the National Defense Academy network<\/a> and then used it to hop across to the Ministry\u2019s network and exfiltrate an unknown quantity of data. The Ministry has declined to comment<\/a>, but it\u2019s been reported that internal internet use has been temporarily banned.<\/p>\n A ransomware infection on the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (known as Muni) has been a boon for commuters, who were able to travel for free last weekend<\/a> when ticketing machines were taken offline. The hackers have demanded 100 bitcoins, about US$73,000<\/a> to provide the encryption keys to unlock just over 2,000 infected terminals. The hackers have also threatened to release 30 gigabytes<\/a> of data including customer information if the ransom isn\u2019t paid. Muni was able to restore its system<\/a> using backups and didn\u2019t pay the ransom.<\/p>\n In Germany, Deutsche Telekom has hinted that hackers were the cause of a network outage that affected 900,000 people<\/a> over the weekend. The outage has only affected customers using routers with \u2018certain software\u2019, indicating that the issue was caused by hackers and not a broader network issue. The company\u2019s IT security chief<\/a> has told newspaper Das Tagesspiel<\/em> that it was likely the result of a botched attempt to use the routers as part of a botnet and Kaspersky researchers<\/a> have identified \u2018Mirai-related\u2019 activity on affected routers. Deutsche Telekom is currently rolling out firmware upgrades<\/a> on routers from Taiwanese company Arcadyn Technology<\/a> to address the issue.<\/p>\n