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The government does not yet know who is behind a cybersecurity incident that has shut down Australia’s second-largest port operator and could affect cargo in and out of the country for several days.
Key points:
DP World Australia, responsible for 40 percent of the country’s maritime freight, has closed the main ports of Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Fremantle.
The cybersecurity incident follows a recent nationwide Optus outage, although the two events are not linked.
The government has recognized the need for increased cybersecurity in critical infrastructure
DP World Australia – which operates the ports of Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Fremantle and is responsible for 40% of Australia’s maritime freight – has closed after it began responding to a cybersecurity incident on Friday.
“The company took immediate action, including disconnecting its internet connectivity, which ended any unauthorized access to its network,” DP World Australia said in a statement.
“This also resulted in key systems underpinning operations at their Australian ports not functioning normally. This was necessary to contain the incident and minimize the impact on their employees, customers, suppliers and other stakeholders .”
It said it was working “closely with government and private sector stakeholders to ensure sensitive inbound freight can be prioritized and recovered”.
National Cyber Security Coordinator Air Marshal Darren Goldie said the situation could take days to resolve, leading to significant freight delays.
He posted on social media site X on Saturday that the government was responding to a “cyber incident of national significance affecting a number of maritime port facilities.”
“This disruption is likely to continue for several days and will impact the movement of goods into and out of the country.”
Ports Australia released a statement on Sunday clarifying that the closure only affected DP World terminals.
“Australia’s ports and other terminals remain operational. We understand the importance of accurate reporting to maintain public confidence and avoid unnecessary concern,” he said in a statement.
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) said it was investigating a cybersecurity incident that forced port operators to suspend operations at ports in several states.
“We have opened an investigation into the incident and will make no further comment as the investigation is ongoing,” an AFP spokesperson said.
The incident came days after Optus’ nationwide outage caused chaos for Australians, although the company said the outage was not related to cybersecurity.
Last month, the federal government released its first review of the security risks facing Australia’s critical infrastructure, including its telecommunications providers.
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles told Sky News this weekend, without knowing the details of the attack, that cybersecurity of Australia’s critical infrastructure had never been more important.
“The world we live in today is one where cybersecurity, in terms of our critical infrastructure, in fact, right down to the private economy, has never been more important,” he said .
“It’s a major priority for us in what we do in terms of, in many ways, our national defenses through the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD), but also in how, with the ASD, we let’s work with the private sector economy to strengthen private sector cybersecurity and this really applies in the case of critical infrastructure areas.
“I mean, incidents like this highlight how dependent we are on cyberspace and telecommunications and how important it is that we have as robust an ecosystem as possible.”