cyber security

Phishing Emails in Australia Rise by 30%

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Phishing Emails in Australia Rise by 30%

The number of phishing emails received by Australians surged by 30% last year, new research by security firm Abnormal Security has found. Cybercriminals have increasingly targeted the Asia-Pacific region, partly because it is becoming a larger player in critical industries like data centres and telecoms. For APAC as a whole, credential phishing attacks rose by 30.5% between 2023 and 2024, according to the research. New Zealand saw a 30% rise, while for Japan and Singapore,…

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GhostGPT: New Chatbot for Malware Creation, Scams

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GhostGPT: New Chatbot for Malware Creation, Scams

Security researchers have discovered a new malicious chatbot advertised on cybercrime forums. GhostGPT generates malware, business email compromise scams, and more material for illegal activities. The chatbot likely uses a wrapper to connect to a jailbroken version of OpenAI’s ChatGPT or another large language model, the Abnormal Security experts suspect. Jailbroken chatbots have been instructed to ignore their safeguards to prove more useful to criminals. Must-read security coverage What is GhostGPT? The security researchers found…

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UK Considers Banning Ransomware Payments

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UK Considers Banning Ransomware Payments

The U.K. government is considering banning ransomware payments to make critical industries “unattractive targets for criminals.” It would apply to all public sector bodies and critical national infrastructure, which includes NHS trusts, schools, local councils, and data centres. Currently, all government departments nationwide are banned from paying cyber criminals to decrypt their data or prevent it from being leaked. This rule intends to protect the services and infrastructure the British public relies on from financial…

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Australian IT Pros Urged to Guard Against Chinese Cybersecurity Threats

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Australian IT Pros Urged to Guard Against Chinese Cybersecurity Threats

The Australian Signals Directorate and the Australian Cyber Security Centre have joined cybersecurity institutions from the U.S., Canada, and New Zealand in warning local technology professionals to beware of threat actors affiliated with China, including Salt Typhoon, infiltrating their critical communications infrastructure. The news comes weeks after the Australian Signals Directorate’s Annual Cyber Threat Report 2023-2024, where the agency warned that state-sponsored cyber actors had been persistently targeting Australian governments, critical infrastructure, and businesses using…

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Cybersecurity News Round-Up 2024: Top 10 Biggest Stories

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Cybersecurity News Round-Up 2024: Top 10 Biggest Stories

This year has not been quiet for the cybersecurity field. We have seen record-breaking data breaches, huge ransomware payouts, and illuminating studies about the impact of the increasingly complex and ever-evolving threat landscape. As we approach the new year, TechRepublic revisits the biggest cybersecurity stories of 2024. 1.  Midnight Blizzard’s attack on Microsoft In January, Microsoft disclosed that it had been a victim of a nation-state-backed attack beginning in November 2023. The Russian threat actor…

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UK Cyber Risks Are ‘Widely Underestimated,’ Warns Security Chief

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UK Cyber Risks Are ‘Widely Underestimated,’ Warns Security Chief

In his first speech on Tuesday, the new head of the U.K.’s National Cyber Security Centre warned that the country’s cyber risks are “widely underestimated.” Richard Horne, who took the position in October, says that hostile activity has “increased in frequency, sophistication and intensity,” largely from foreign actors in Russia and China. He highlighted the ransomware attacks on the British Library and pathology company Synnovis, which disrupted the NHS, illustrating a dependence on technology for…

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Over 600,000 Personal Records Exposed by Data Broker

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Over 600,000 Personal Records Exposed by Data Broker

A database linked to SL Data Services, a U.S.-based data broker, has exposed 644,869 sensitive records online. The records included personally identifiable information, property ownership details, vehicle records, court records, and background check documents, and they lacked password protection or encryption. Security researcher Jeremiah Fowler discovered the exposure and reported it to the review and cyber research site WebsitePlanet. He observed a sample of the documents stored in the 713.1 GB database and said 95%…

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Top 5 Cyber Security Trends for 2025

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Top 5 Cyber Security Trends for 2025

The cyber landscape is more turbulent than ever. Microsoft recently reported a 2.75-fold increase in ransomware attempts this year, while research predicts that global cyber attacks in 2024 will surge 105% compared to 2020. There is a dire need for more qualified cyber professionals as generative AI is lowering the barrier to entry for attacks. Unfortunately, cyber skills gaps have been reported in both the U.K. and Australia, with women making up only a quarter…

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Starbucks, Supermarkets Targeted in Ransomware Attack

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Starbucks, Supermarkets Targeted in Ransomware Attack

Starbucks and several major U.K. supermarkets experienced disruption due to a ransomware attack on the prominent supply chain software provider Blue Yonder. The company disclosed the incident on Thursday, Nov. 21, and it was still working to restore services the following Monday. The disruption to the Blue Yonder platform prevented Starbucks from paying its baristas and managing their schedules, according to the Wall Street Journal. As a result, cafe managers had to manually calculate their…

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Australia Passes Groundbreaking Cyber Security Law

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Australia Passes Groundbreaking Cyber Security Law

Australia passed its first-ever Cyber Security Act on Nov. 25, introducing various measures to strengthen the nation’s defenses. Among its key provisions is a requirement that organisations report to the government if they pay ransomware criminals — a practice that has become widespread globally. The Cyber Security Act follows Australia’s Cyber Security Strategy 2023-2030. The strategy, designed to position Australia as a leader in cyber resilience, foreshadowed several measures in the law, including creating a…

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