Australian Law Firm Ransomware Attack, 02 May 2023

Updated: Australian law firm HWL Ebsworth hit by Russian-linked Blackcat ransomware attack

Hacking 4TB of data including IDs, finance reports, accounting data, client documents and credit card details.

Company Statement: UPDATE: FRIDAY 14 JULY
Source: Australian law firm HWL Ebsworth hit by Russian-linked ransomware attack | The Guardian

View more incidents from Legal and Law sector and other reports relating to ISO27k 8.7 Protection against malware.

This attack has been attributed to the cybercriminal group AlphV, which is also known as BlackCat, view the AlphV Australian Ransomware Attacks.

 

Big four banks caught up in cyber breach 22nd June 2023
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner has had data stolen by the Russian criminal ransomware gang known as BlackCat, or ALPHV. The data was stolen through legal firm HWL Ebsworth, who the OAIC is a client – according to a report by The Australian.

 

Australia’s Privacy Watchdog Hacked By Russians 15th June 2023 NAB has confirmed data exposure after Russian hackers posted scarce details online. CBA, Westpac and ANZ are working with HWL Ebsworth to determine the law firm to determine their exposure.

 

Top secret defence files stolen by Russian hackers | 7NEWS 17th June 2023Sensitive government files and national military secrets have been stolen by Russian cyber hackers. It’s one of the largest defence breaches in Australian history but the prime minister has been quick to downplay the hack as a technical incident

 

Law firm investigates cyber hack data release claim | The West Australian 09 June 2023
The Tasmanian government said it had been contacted by the federal government about an “illegal release” of HWL Ebsworth data on the dark web. Minister for Science and Technology Madeleine Ogilvie said there was a nationally co-ordinated approach to investigating the impacts of the incident.
HWL Ebsworth, which has clients at either commercial or government level in every state or territory, on Friday said it had learned of the data release.

The Australian commercial law firm HWL Ebsworth has fallen victim to a ransomware attack, with Russian-linked hackers claiming to have obtained client information and employee data.

Late last week, the ALPHV/Blackcat ransomware group posted on its website that 4TB of company data had been hacked, including employee CVs, IDs, financial reports, accounting data, client documentation, credit card information, and a complete network map.

Blackcat was one of the top three ransomware groups targeting Australia according to a recent study by cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks.

Professional and legal services is one of the top targeted industries for such attacks, the Palo Alto study stated, with Australia the most targeted in the Asia-Pacific region.

(3/5/2023) The company has yet to provied comment or information on thie website or social media.

ANZ, CBA, NAB, Westpac
ADoD
OAIC
Taz Gov
Vic Gov https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/highly-sensitive-victorian-government-documents-published-on-dark-web-20230714-p5dob1.html
Optus: https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/more-sensitive-optus-data-leaked-in-major-cyberattack-on-law-firm-20230629-p5dkii.html
federal Fair Work Ombudsman : https://www.itnews.com.au/news/fair-work-ombudsman-caught-up-in-hwl-ebsworth-breach-598070
Qld Gov https://www.qld.gov.au/transport/news/features/tmr-is-aware-of-a-cyber-incident-and-data-breach-impacting-law-firm-hwl-ebsworth
meanwhile, The Advertiser newspaper reported over the weekend that a small number of people had received notifications from the South Australian government relating to exposure to the incident.
WA Gov: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-30/wa-government-hwl-ebsworth-hack-alphv-ransomeware-gang-breach/102544166

 

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