Cyberattack Hits 65 Aussie Government Bodies
In a recent revelation, Australia’s top cybersecurity guru, Air Marshal Darren Goldie, dropped a bombshell: a whopping 65 Australian government departments and agencies got hit in a cyber-attack on the law firm HWL Ebsworth. This digital invasion went down back in April, and it was the handiwork of the Russian-linked ALPHV/BlackCat ransomware crew. What’s really unsettling is that some folks and clients whose personal info got exposed in the hack still don’t know about it. Initially, the gang claimed they swiped 1.1 terabytes of data, but it turned out to be a staggering 3.6 terabytes of sensitive stuff.
Back in June, Guardian Australia did some digging and found out that at least 60 government outfits that had used HWL Ebsworth’s legal services might have been caught up in this mess. But now, Air Marshal Goldie confirmed that the real number is higher — 65 agencies are in the hot seat. Quick side note: these government entities didn’t have a cyber incident of their own; they were just clients of HWL Ebsworth. After getting 16 weeks of help from the Australian government, the formal rescue mission has wrapped up. Now, HWL Ebsworth is taking the reins in managing the fallout without government babysitting. Still, individual agencies will keep helping affected clients, and the cops — the Australian federal police and Victoria police — are still on the case. Air Marshal Goldie is now leading a review, teaming up with HWL Ebsworth and folks from different government levels. The goal? To figure out what the heck happened and learn some lessons for the future.
When the news broke, the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) had a bit of a crisis. They needed to figure out if their clients’ sensitive info got snagged, especially since HWL Ebsworth repped them in appeals cases. Air Marshal Goldie shared a bit about the decision-making process. He thought about going public right away, but he decided to let HWL Ebsworth give the heads-up to people through NDIS providers and caregivers first to keep the panic level down. The situation got more serious when it came out that the Australian federal police and the Department of Home Affairs were hit, even though they’re the ones who are supposed to be investigating this mess.
In a bid to stop the bleeding, HWL Ebsworth went to court to stop the hacked data from spreading on the dark web. The case against the hackers is set for a showdown in early November. The ALPHV/BlackCat ransomware gang, who pulled off this caper, is one of the top three ransomware groups causing trouble Down Under, according to a cybersecurity outfit called Palo Alto Networks. These guys have been at it since late 2021 and they’ve got a thing for big fish — they’re always going after the big organizations.
This whole cyber circus is a reminder of how real the threat of cyberattacks is, and how everybody, from the government to regular folks, needs to step up their online security game. As the investigation rolls on, let’s hope they pick up some tricks to protect Australia from future digital nightmares.