Sydney

Australian ports operator giant DP World Australia said on Tuesday (Nov 28) that the Nov 10 cyber attack accessed files containing personal details of employees. In a statement, DP World Australia said, "While the investigation has shown that customer data was not affected, some of the impacted data includes the personal information of current and previous employees."

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DP World did not provide any details about the perpetrators but said its investigation confirmed the incident was confined to its Australian operations and did not impact any other markets where the company operates. The company also said that no ransomware was found or deployed within the organisation's network. 

The Nov 10 cybersecurity forced DP World to suspend its operations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Fremantle. After spotting the breach, the company disconnected from the internet, significantly impacting freight movements. It cleared the backlog of over 30,000 containers by Nov 20.

Also read: DP World Australia resumes its operations in gradual manner after cyber attack

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The ports operator giant gradually resumed its operations days after the breach.

Nearly two weeks back, a government report said that state-sponsored cyber groups and hackers increased assaults on Australia's critical infrastructure, businesses and homes.

The Australian Cyber Security Centre said in its annual threat report on Nov 15 that the reports of cybercrime surged 23 per cent to more than 94,000 in the financial year to June.

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The centre estimated that there was a hack on Australian assets every six minutes.

The report said that techniques used by a state-sponsored Chinese hacking group could be used against Australia's critical infrastructure including telecommunications, energy and transportation. 

Also on Nov 15, Defence Minister Richard Marles told ABC Radio that cyber threats in the country were continuing to grow. "We value, clearly, a productive relationship with China ... but China has been a source of security anxiety for our country and we prepare for that as well," Defence Minister Marles added.

(With inputs from agencies)