(UnitedVoice.com) – In November, hackers attacked Australia’s electrical grid. The incident is causing officials to worry about the future of critical infrastructure in the country.
On November 27, hackers attacked Queensland’s CS Energy. The company was able to stop the attack before it shut down the company’s two thermal coal plants. However, up to 3 million Australians were reportedly just minutes away from losing their power. Although they stopped the hackers, the criminals disabled multiple corporate systems which caused employees to lose access to their emails.
Attribution of cyber attacks is hard.
It’s important that public figures aren’t hasty when asserting responsibility for attacks.@rpotter_9 steps through what’s known about the recent CS Energy incident on @SkyNewsAust just now. pic.twitter.com/VY8SIuNXDt
— Tim Watts MP (@TimWattsMP) December 8, 2021
CS Energy CEO Andrew Bills said the company moved quickly to stop the attack and notified state and federal agencies. He said it was part of a “growing trend” both at home and abroad. Cybercriminals have repeatedly attacked critical infrastructure in the US and other countries. In 2021, one such incident involving a Colonial pipeline caused panic and gas shortages along the US east coast.
Some security experts believe Chinese hackers are responsible for the attack in Australia. However, Prime Minister Scott Morrison failed to name a culprit, instead, he warned businesses to take extra steps to ensure their systems are secure.
Copyright 2021, UnitedVoice.com
