Australia is investigating piracy targeting Parliament
Australian officials are investigating two apparent security cases that resulted in disruption of Parliament's email system, and technical problems for a popular TV station.
An apparent cyber incident caused disruption to the Australian Parliament's email system and made it completely offline, and hackers stopped the Australian Channel 9 broadcasts over the weekend.
The suspected attack on Parliament left MPs and senators without access to e-mail, while the incident that hit Channel 9 disrupted broadcasts, leaving it unable to broadcast Weekend Today.
Local media reported that the incident was the largest cyberattack to affect an Australian media company, and it appears that the publishing and broadcasting division is continuing to operate without problems.
Meanwhile, the Parliamentary Services Department said in a statement: The smartphones and tablets in the Parliamentary Services Department were disrupted as a result of an attack.
The Australian Cybersecurity Center works with both Channel 9 and Parliament to address outages, and the Australian Signals Directorate also works with the Parliamentary Services Department.
Channel 9 said: It is not clear whether the suspected hackers behind the attack on the network are cybercriminals or are supported by the state, although journalist (Alicia Loxley) Alicia Loxley said: The network was attacked by a ransom demand, which may indicate a motive. Financial.
Ransomware scammers often target media companies, and hackers have sought out in recent years the New York-based Daily Gazette, Tampa Bay Times, and Tribune.
The attack affected the Tribune in 2018 the Los Angeles Times, the San Diego Tribune, and the South Florida Sun.
Hackers often target parliaments and national legislatures, and in the past several month's attackers have targeted the Finnish parliament in an apparent attempt to gain access to members' emails.
And Finnish intelligence officials said earlier this month: The suspected Chinese hackers were behind the attack.
Norwegian officials have also blamed Russian pirates in recent months for an attack on Parliament there.
Meanwhile, Australian companies and government agencies have begun to curtail a series of cyberattacks over the past year.
Australian intelligence officials blamed the Chinese Ministry of State Security for infiltrating the Australian Parliament and several political parties in 2019.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison also blamed a state-based cyber actor for a sweeping 2020 attack targeting venture capital firms, defense contractors, and government agencies.
Top government officials blamed China at the time, according to Australian broadcaster ABC News.