Cyber adversaries strike DP World Australia, disrupting transportation of goods to and from country
DP World Australia has temporarily ceased land operations in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and Fremantle as a result of a ‘cybersecurity incident,’ impacting the transportation of goods in and out of the country. The company, which is Australia’s second largest port operator, announced on Friday evening, Nov. 10, that it had suspended all port terminal operations due to this incident. The suspension of operations is being done to ensure the safety of both customers and employees.
“Our teams are working diligently to contain the situation and determine the impact on our systems and data,” DP World Australia said in a statement released to the Australian media. The company reports that it is engaging with cybersecurity experts and notifying the relevant authorities while continuing to investigate the scope of the breach.
In addition, news sites have reported that the DP World Australia site displayed a message stating “Checking if the site connection is secure” on certain pages. The message also indicated that dpworld.com needs to review the security of your connection before proceeding. Despite this, the public sections of the site remained accessible online.”
The Australian government is aware of a cyber incident affecting ports operator DP World Australia, Clare O’Neil, Minister for Home Affairs, wrote in a LinkedIn post on Saturday. “The Government is coordinating the government response to this incident, with the National Coordination Mechanism to meet shortly. The Government is receiving regular briefings and is working with DP World Australia to understand the impacts of this incident and enable engagement across government. The Australian Cyber Security Centre is engaging DP World Australia and is providing technical advice and assistance as needed,” she added.
She added that the National Cyber Security Coordinator is leading this operation to manage this incident.
Darren Goldie, National Cyber Security Coordinator wrote in a LinkedIn post that he co-chaired a meeting of the National Coordination Mechanism, together with the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), to consider and address impacts arising from the cyber incident.
“DP World Australia has advised it has restricted access to its Australian port operations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Fremantle while it investigates the incident,” Goldie said. “This interruption is likely to continue for a number of days and will impact the movement of goods into and out of the country. DP World Australia is working with its stakeholders to consider the impacts on its operations at specific ports.”
Goldie said that his office is leading the national response to this incident and “has been engaged on this since Friday evening (10 November 2023), when we were notified of the incident. Our priority is to assist DP World Australia to resolve the incident, so they are in a position to restore access to the ports they operate across the country.”
The Australian Signals Directorate’s Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) is engaged with DP World Australia and is providing technical advice and assistance, Goldie added. “The Australian Federal Police has commenced an investigation into the incident. I intend to convene the National Coordination Mechanism again tomorrow, together with NEMA, and continue to meet with DP World Australia over the coming days as this unfolds. I will provide further updates on the situation as it develops.”
Earlier this year, the website of the Port of Lisbon (Porto de Lisboa) remained inaccessible for a week after being targeted by cyber attackers. The LockBit ransomware group also included the organization on its extortion site, claiming responsibility for the attack.
A complimentary guide to the who`s who in industrial cybersecurity tech & solutions
Free DownloadRelated
