On the 22nd September 2022, Australian telecommunications company Optus reported that they had experienced a cyber breach affecting nearly 11 million customers, which may make it the worst cyber attack in Australia’s history. Details of this attack are still emerging, however it has taken a couple of twists in the weeks following the attack, and there are some early indicators as to what occurred. In the News.

Although cyberattacks on higher education institutions date back years, there has been a spike in university cyberattacks over the last two years. Cybercriminals had taken advantage of the rapid transition to hybrid learning that higher education institutions have been forced to implement before they had time to strengthen their cybersecurity, which has left most of them exposed. This is yet another example of accelerated adoption of new technologies before security measures are in place.

In late August, a technology provider that offers student loan account management and payment services submitted a breach notice indicating that a compromise detected on July 22 exposed 2.5 million individuals’ data, including their names, contact information, and social security numbers. At present, neither the breach notice nor subsequent reporting have provided detailed insights into the nature of the breach, noting only that it likely began in June and continued until July 22.

Apart from external attackers, organizations need to consider another type of threat when planning their cybersecurity strategy: insider threats. There are different types of insiders. On the one hand, there are people who have secret knowledge and unintentionally create risk openings within an organization; and on the other, there are others who intend to cause harm, motivated by profit, extortion, or personal grievance. This means insiders can be classified as follows.

The world of digital security has been under the spotlight for various reasons in the last year. Several high-profile incidents have directly impacted the general public, from cyber attacks to privacy scandals. Uber is the latest company to be caught up in this whirlwind after hackers managed to breach their security and steal sensitive user data from the ride-hailing service. This article provides an overview of what happened, what went wrong, and what you can do to keep your accounts safe.

Illustration by jcomp On Sept. 15, Uber Technologies Inc. was breached by an 18-year-old. The hacker purchased an employee’s stolen credentials from the dark web and pushed a flood of multi-factor authentication (MFA) requests and fake IT messages to them in hopes of getting into their account. Irritated by the non-stop pop-ups, the employee caved in and approved the request, unwittingly setting off a cyberattack.

It was the worst-case scenario for Uber, the popular ride-sharing app, when the company suffered a major data breach in early September. While the extent of the damage, and the data potentially stolen, is still being uncovered, the attack — and the methods used to execute it — can be examined and used to teach other organizations what (and what not) to do.

Imagine a burglar. They’ve spent large amounts of time researching their target — your house. They’ve perfected their infiltration techniques, found your weak points, learned your schedule, and know the best time to strike. They’ve shown up when you least expect it and jimmied open the lock on the back door. And now, rather than head inside and steal your valuables, they hold the door open for someone else.

The technology industry has unlocked innovation across all sectors as an enabler of digital transformation. Most organizations are now outsourcing critical operations to tech companies, such as cloud providers. Tech vendors are now left to manage an ever-growing volume of sensitive data, which they must secure effectively to prevent large-scale data breaches. IBM and Ponemon Institute’s 2022 Cost of a Data Breach Report found a record high average breach cost of US$4.35 million.

The financial industry is no stranger to data breaches. Financial institutions have access to millions of personally identifiable information (PII) records, which they must secure to the highest standard. The value of this data is open knowledge – hackers will actively search for existing cybersecurity weaknesses to gain unauthorized access to customers’ financial information.