Due to a cybersecurity incident, Australia's second largest port operator has announced a suspension of operations, seriously affecting the flow of goods import and export in the country.
DP World Australia claimed that it discovered "system intrusion" on the morning of Friday (November 10th) local time and decided to close the port at 17:00 pm. "The company immediately took actions such as cutting off the network and preventing unauthorized visits
Correspondingly, this action resulted in the inability of key systems supporting Australian port operations to function properly, and the stagnation of cargo transportation at ports in major cities such as Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and Freemantle. It is reported that the cargo ship can still unload, but cannot depart normally.
Shortly before the release, Australia's Global Ports Group stated through local media that despite the company's team's efforts to resume operations "day and night", the port remained closed until Saturday afternoon. The company also mentioned that it has reported network security incidents to relevant government departments.
Australian Home Minister Clare O'Neil wrote on social media that the Australian government is coordinating its response to this incident and will soon hold a meeting. The National Cybersecurity Coordinator Darren Goldie stated that the interruption may last for several days and the National Cybersecurity Center will provide technical advice and assistance to the company.
Coincidentally, earlier this week, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited's wholly-owned subsidiary in the United States, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Financial Services Co., Ltd. (ICBCFS), also issued a statement stating that it was attacked by ransomware, resulting in partial system outages.
At that time, ICBCFS stated that upon discovering the attack, the affected systems were immediately cut off and quarantined. A thorough investigation was conducted and reported to law enforcement, and recovery efforts were advanced with the support of a team of professional information security experts.
In recent years, cyber attack cases have been on the rise in various industries, and many institutions have become targets of extortion by hackers. In such attacks, hackers typically gain control of an institutional system and use it to extort ransom payments from the other party.
It is worth mentioning that the world's largest technology acquisition case so far this year is a transaction related to cybersecurity. On September 21st, renowned US technology company Cisco agreed to acquire cybersecurity company Splunk for approximately $28 billion.
The CEO of Cisco explained during the earnings call that with the rise of hyper connectivity and artificial intelligence, the value of data will increase accordingly. Correspondingly, cyber threats will increase day by day, "which is the significance of this transaction