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"This is not game over for us": Eight Aussie firms hit by cyber attack
– AAP
At least eight Australian businesses have been hit by a global cyber attack, but the country appears to have avoided the worst.
The insidious bug has crippled systems across the globe, prompting Cyber Security Minister Dan Tehan to call for urgent action from local companies.
“This ransomware attack is a wake-up call to all Australian businesses to regularly back up their data and install the latest security patches,” Mr Tehan said.
Also read: At least one Australian firm hit by global cyber attack
They should immediately update their Windows operating system and back up their data.
The ransomware has wormed its way into thousands of computers in an apparent extortion plot, shutting users out unless they cough up payment.
More than 200,000 systems in 150 countries have reportedly been affected, including British hospitals and Germany’s national railway.
“At this stage we haven’t seen the impact that they have seen in the United Kingdom, for example,” Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told reporters in Sydney on Monday.
Also read: CBA scam warning: Fake texts, locked accounts and phoney links
Mr Turnbull’s cyber security advisor, Alastair MacGibbon, said none of Australia’s government agencies or health systems had been hit.
But he warned it was likely some Australians would fall victim.
“This is not game over for us,” Mr MacGibbon told ABC radio.
“There are clearly going to be some small businesses impacted … but as a whole of nation, we can be confident so far that we’ve missed the worst of this.”
The ransomware attack struck British National Health Service organisations, along with computer networks of companies and municipalities in dozens of other countries.
A number of hospitals in England and Scotland were forced to cancel procedures after dozens of NHS systems were brought down in Friday’s attack.
Spanish telco giant Telefonica and US delivery service FedEx were among the businesses affected.
However, major cyber security firms are looking into clues that may connect the global “ransomware” attack known as WannaCry with programs previously attributed to North Korea, it emerged overnight.
