The last few months have seen issues around cyber security explode into public view with disclosures about high-profile breaches — and, in particular, ransomware.
While these tracks are not new, there is two important changes. Increasingly, criminal syndicates, some with either direct or tacit state support, are attacking core economic infrastructure, rather than limiting their targets to financial or administrative systems. And they are not just encrypting data or locking devices out — they are increasingly stealing the data and holding this to ransom through fear of release.
US company Colonial Pipeline was forced to shut down, leading to petrol hoarding. Despite paying the $US5 million ransom to Darkside, its operations were severely curtailed for a week, costing the company millions more in lost revenue — not to mention reputational damage. While the FBI announced in June that it recovered most of the ransom paid, the reputational damage to Colonial Pipeline has been considerable.
German chemical distribution company Brenntag, likewise, paid a Russian criminal syndicate a $US4.4 million ransom.
Shortly after, the syndicate announced its servers had been seized by…
