Cyber Law Watch – Page 26 – Insight on how cyber risk is being mitigated and managed across the globe

Report savages US Government agencies’ cybersecurity efforts

Jun 15 2018

You would think government agencies would have a keen focus on cybersecurity risks, but apparently not! A report by the United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has found that nearly three-quarters of Federal agencies reviewed have either “at risk” or “high risk” cybersecurity arrangements. 71 of 96 agencies assessed were either missing, had insufficiently deployed or had significant gaps in their fundamental cybersecurity policies, processes or tools.

Not so happy families: Online genealogy website suffers data breach

Jun 13 2018

By Cameron Abbott, Rob Pulham and Sarah Goegan

Online genealogy platform MyHeritage suffered a major data breach in which email addresses and hashed passwords of over 92 million users were leaked. The data breach occurred in October 2017, but was not discovered until 4 June 2018.

MyHeritage became aware of the breach after a security researcher found a file named “myheritage” on a private server. The file contained all the email addresses of MyHeritage users who signed up through to 26 October 2017, and their hashed passwords.

Proposed anti-terror laws to give law enforcement access to personal data

Jun 12 2018

By Warwick Andersen, Rob Pulham and Sarah Goegan

Last week, the Australian Government announced that it would propose new anti-terror laws that force telecommunications and multinational tech companies to give law enforcement agencies access to encrypted data of suspected criminals and terrorists.

Cyber Security Minister Angus Taylor said the laws would give police, intelligence and security agencies the ability to bypass encryption on messaging (such as private messages sent on Whatsapp and Facebook), phone calls, photos, location and apps.

When employee data does fall within the legal privacy net

Jun 12 2018

By Cameron Abbott, Warwick Andersen and Georgia Mills

PageUp, a leading HR software support company has revealed it has fallen victim to a massive data breach, potentially compromising the personal details of thousands of Australians. Boasting over 2 million active users worldwide and counting a roll call of major Australian companies together with a number of government agencies as clients, the breach may be the largest since the introduction of mandatory data breach notification laws in February (which we blogged about here).

Aqua-man goes hi-tech – Microsoft’s Plunge into Deep Sea Data Storage

Jun 12 2018

By Cameron Abbott and Georgia Mills

In addition to all things cyber security related, we here at CyberWatch love to see new technologies being developed and Microsoft’s latest data storage project has us all excited.

Microsoft has leveraged the technologies of submarines and renewable energy to plunge an experimental 12 metre long datacentre into the sea near Scotland’s Orkney Islands. The project, known as Project Natick, seeks to understand the benefits and difficulties in deploying subsea datacentres powered by offshore renewable energy.

North Korean cyberattacks increase ahead of summit

Jun 08 2018

By Cameron Abbott and Sarah Goegan

North Korean cyberattack activity appears to have ramped up ahead of the highly anticipated US-North Korea summit, which is expected to take place on 12 June 2018.

North Korean hackers known as Group 123 have been identified as the party responsible for new malware activity targeting users in South Korea.

Chubb’s new personal cyber security coverage

Jun 04 2018

By Cameron Abbott and Georgia Mills

Chubb has recently released a new cyber security insurance coverage for individuals in North America. The product intends to provide greater protection from cyberattacks that lead to extortion and ransomware, financial loss, cyber disruption and breaches of privacy.

Foreign Hackers Take Down Triple Zero Network

Jun 01 2018

By Cameron Abbott and Georgia Mills

The triple zero emergency call service, operated by Telstra, was subjected to an onslaught of more than 1000 offshore calls on Saturday morning, leading to a number of genuine emergency calls being unanswered and sparking a government investigation.

Study reveals massive cost of cybercrime for Asia Pacific businesses

Jun 01 2018

By Cameron Abbott and Sarah Goegan

We all know that cybersecurity incidents can cost your organisation a lot of money, but exactly how much? A report by Frost and Sullivan has found that losses from cyberattacks in the Asia Pacific region (APAC) could reach a staggering US$1.75 trillion, nearly 7 per cent of the region’s gross domestic product in 2017. As covered in our blog last week, the cost of cyber scams alone in Australia totalled $340 million AUD last year.

Australian Government legislates to protect critical national infrastructure

May 28 2018

By Cameron Abbott, Keely O’Dowd and Sarah Goegan

Protecting Australia’s critical infrastructure from threats is essential to Australia’s national security interests, community safety and the overall quality of life for Australians.

In March 2018, the Australian Parliament passed the Security of Critical Infrastructure Act 2018, which is due to commence on 11 July 2018. The Act imposes new obligations on operators and owners of “critical infrastructure assets” – Australia’s high risk major ports and electricity, water and gas utilities.