19th June 2020
Earlier this morning the Australian Government announced that it was currently aware of, and responding to, a sustained targeting of Australian governments and companies by a sophisticated state-based actor. That is, someone backed or employed by a foreign government.
Due to the urgency and severity of the announcement, the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) released an advisory detailing various methods that these state-based actors utilise in their attempts to gain a foothold into an organisation. These warnings come as the Australian Government fears the issue may escalate.
There are several things that you can do to help protect yourself against this attack:
• If you receive any email containing a link or attachment that seems suspicious, or that you are even mildly concerned about opening, then please don’t. Send it directly to support@xstragroup.com for investigation.
• Always check the browser URL when you are asked to login to any website, ensuring it is correct.
• If you haven’t updated your operating system or application software in a while, please do so immediately. Clients with an XCLOUD or DATASHIELD service or computers covered by XCARE are already protected and you have nothing more to do in this regard.
In Addition, XSTRA highly recommends you start to adopt a “Security First” technology protection posture and look to deploying at least the following technologies at your business:
- MFA – Multi-Factor Authentication
- SSO – Single Sign-On
- Virtual Desktopslocated in a secure data center
- Full Gateway Protection System (GPS) – including a stateful firewall and a Unified Threat Management (UTM) bridge
Call XSTRA for clear advice for all of your IT & Communication security concerns.
PDF – ACSC Advisory 2020-008 click – HERE
Link On-Line regarding the ACSC Advisory 2020-008 can be found by clicking the image below:
What is with the curious reluctance at naming the country behind the attacks? It gives off an air of simpering weakness, like someone complaining that they have been robbed, but not daring to file a police report. Why not take immediate action, and make calls for international sanctions at the United Nations together with every other country that has been hit by this same actor?
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