Australia is investigating piracy against Parliament |
Australian officials are investigating two apparent security incidents that disrupted Parliament's email system and a technical problem at a popular TV station.
The apparent cyber incidents shut down the Australian Parliament's messaging system and is completely offline, with hackers stopping broadcasting Australian Channel 9 over the weekend.
The alleged congressional attack prevented members of Congress and senators from using e-mail, and the Channel 9 incident disrupted broadcasts and made it impossible to broadcast on the weekend.
Local media reported that the incident was the largest cyber attack on a media company in Australia, and it appears that publishing and broadcasting services are continuing to operate normally.
Meanwhile, the Department of Conference Services said in a statement that smartphones and tablets of the Department of Congressional Services were damaged in the attack.
The Australian Cybersecurity Center worked with Channel 9 and Parliament to repair the power outages, and the Australian Signals Office also worked with Parliamentary Services.
Channel 9 said: It is not clear whether the suspected hacker behind the cyber attack was a cybercriminal or national support, although (Alicia Luxley) reporter Alicia Luxley said: The network was attacked with a ransom, which may indicate extortion. Stimulus.
Ransomware scammers often target media companies. In the past few years, hackers have consulted The Daily News, Tampa Bay Times, and the New York Tribune.
This attack affected the Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, the San Diego Tribune, and the South Florida Sun in 2018.
Hackers often target parliamentary and national legislation. In recent months, attackers have targeted the Finnish parliament, apparently in an attempt to receive emails from its members.
A Finnish intelligence official said earlier this month that a suspected Chinese hacker was behind the attack.
In recent months, Norwegian officials have also accused Russian pirates of attacking Parliament there.
Meanwhile, Australian companies and government agencies have begun to curb a flurry of cyber attacks over the past year.
Australian intelligence officials accused the Chinese Ministry of National Security of infiltrating the Australian Parliament and several political parties in 2019.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison also accused a nationwide cyber actor of launching widespread attacks on venture capital firms, defense firms, and government agencies in 2020.
According to ABC News, high-ranking government officials accused China at the time.