Cyber attackers have struck Australia again, with one of Australia’s top universities, the Queensland University of Technology, announcing a ransomware attack has hit them.
At present, the university notes that there is no evidence any private data was stolen.
The university has shut down its IT systems as a precaution, and students have been warned the effects of the hack could be felt for weeks to come.
Currently, QUT has around 50,000 students enrolled across its two Brisbane campuses.
“QUT’s main priority is to reduce the impact on student progress,” the university said in a statement.
The university will reopen as planned on Jan. 3.
Currently, Australia is experiencing a surge in cybersecurity attacks with over 76,000 cybercrime reports in the 2021-22 year, a jump of nearly 13 percent from the previous period, according to a new report by the ACSC.
Australia a Cyberattack Hotbed
The report comes after several cyber incidents targeting major public companies like Medibank, Australia’s larger health insurer; Optus, the second largest telecommunications company; and EnergyAustralia, one of the three largest energy companies. The defence department was also targeted, as were private companies Vinomofo, Woolworths’ MyDeal, and Medlab.
The Australian government has said it will strike back against cyber hackers with a 100-person strong task force set to debilitate hackers and ransomware syndicates around the world before crimes have been committed.
The task force will be a joint effort between the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD), according to an announcement on Nov. 12.
The group aims to collect intelligence and identify ring-leaders, networks, and infrastructure to disrupt and stop cyber-criminal syndicates.
“The recent Optus and Medibank data breaches have shown the extent of the damage that can be done by malicious actors. This new joint campaign will ensure the full powers of the AFP and ASD are brought to bear to stop such incidents before they start,” said Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil in a joint media release along with Defence Minister Richard Marles and Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus.
“Where incidents do take place, it means that cybercriminals will be hunted down and their networks disrupted. It sends an important message to criminals and hackers intending to do harm—Australia will fight back.”
The new counter-ransomware task force will be under the jurisdiction of the Department of Home Affairs Cyber and Critical Technology Coordination Centre and will work with international partners to tackle the criminal syndicates via information sharing, collaboration, and enforcement activities.
Task Force to Scour the World For Targets
O’Neil noted in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Nov. 13 that while the new taskforce would be an entirely new operating model for the ASD and the AFP, it will allow Australia to scour the world for cyber-criminal syndicates.
“This is Australia standing up and punching back,” she said. “We are not going to sit back while our citizens are treated like this and allow there to be no consequences for that.”
O’Neil said the task force would be unique as it would be proactive rather than reactive.
“The first thing is to hunt these people down and disrupt their operations,” she said. “It weakens these groups if governments like ours collaborate with the FBI and other police forces and intelligence agencies around the world.
“But the second important thing that we need to do is stand up and say that Australia is not going to be a soft target for this sort of thing. And if people come after our citizens, we are going to go after them.”
AAP contributed to this report.
Victoria Kelly-Clark is an Australian based reporter who focuses on national politics and the geopolitical environment in the Asia-pacific region, the Middle East and Central Asia.
