Security News
The Australian government announced the 2023-2030 Australian Cyber Security Strategy, which aims to "Help realise the Australian Government's vision of becoming a world leader in cyber security." Overall, the strategy is designed to bring the public and private sectors together in delivering a cohesive vision. More Australia coverage Lack of bipartisan agreement means a lack of clear cyber security strategy.
Cybercrime actor DragonForce which claimed responsibility for the attack has also leaked 95 GB of data that it states, belongs to the company. In a statement to BleepingComputer, Yakult Australia confirmed it was investigating a cyber incident that occurred in mid-December.
Today, the Akira ransomware gang claimed that it breached the network of Nissan Australia, the Australian division of Japanese car maker Nissan.The attackers have threatened to leak sensitive business and client data online, as ransom negotiations with Nissan failed after the company either refused to engage or pay the ransom.
Third-party supply chain risk is a key concern from Australian cyber security professionals. ASIC reveals third-party supply chain risk as key gap in Australia.
The year 2023 was a big year for cyber security professionals in Australia. Experts from Rapid7 have argued that Australia can expect both advantages and risks from AI cyber tools in 2024.
Australia is about to get a national online ID system - the Digital ID - which promises to improve the security and privacy of data online. The Digital ID is the cumulation of a five-year, AUD $200 million investment as an effort to alleviate security concerns over the amount of data Australians give to companies to prove who they are online.
Australia is building a top-secret cloud to host intelligence data and share it with the US and UK, which have their own clouds built for the same purpose. The three clouds were discussed on Monday by Andrew Shearer, Australia's director-general of national intelligence, at an event hosted by the Center for Strategic & International Studies in Washington, DC. "We are working very hard on a top-secret cloud initiative," Shearer told the event, adding that it will interoperate with similar infrastructure already operated by the US and UK, and mean sensitive data can be shared "Near instantaneously."
Asia in brief Australia's National Cyber Security Coordinator has described an attack on logistics company DP World as a "Nationally significant cyber incident."Cloud Software Group, parent company of Citrix, has become the latest tech player to exit China.
Jessie Jamieson, staff research engineer for decision science operations at cyber exposure management firm Tenable, said what has been absent from the strategy detail released so far has been a focus on the one thing that underpins everything: data science. In general, "Everyone is a little behind from a data perspective," Jamieson said, with the obvious recent example being the headlong rush around the world to use data as part of artificial intelligence models, including generative AI. "Some companies are being more careful, but there is so much discussion at the moment about developing these things quickly without asking questions like how these plug into a data process or what the process is around generating training data," she said.
Microsoft plans to more than double its cloud computing capacity in Australia over the next two years and expand its support for critical national cyber security and technology skills priorities. Fast-growing demand for cloud computing services across Australia has seen Microsoft announce the injection of AU $5 billion into the market, in a move it says will support Australia's ability to seize the economic and productivity advantages of artificial intelligence.