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Total Peripherals Group Telecom Ltd (TPG) fell victim to a high-profile cyber attack.
The number two internet service provider announced last week that it detected unauthorised access to a hosted exchange service. The incident impacted about 15,000 business customers.
TPG’s attack is the latest in a series of high-profile cyber crimes the country witnessed. Recently Optum, the second-largest telecoms firm, and Medibank, the country’s largest health insurer, endured similar attacks.
In an interview with SecurityWeek, TPG disclosed, “This has impacted up to 15,000 iiNet and Westnet business customers. This incident does not affect a home or personal (residential) iiNet or Westnet products, such as broadband or mobile.”
TPG further added that the primary aim of the attack was to gain access to customers’ cryptocurrency and financial information, as reported by the company’s cyber security adviser Mandiant. Mandiant discovered the security breach during its forensic historical review.
Azeem Sherrif, a market analyst at CMC Markets, noted, “It does show to the world and Australia that it is still quite easy for hackers to access customer records, which is a huge negative, and a lot of the other companies should be wary.”
Many experts, including the Australian Cyber Security Centre, noted that the rise of high-profile attacks was due to inadequate software updates. Experts also note that attacks focused on top corporations made threat actors realise that Australian companies could be easy targets due to shortages of skills in cyber defence in the country. The sheriff added, “This lack of skilled cybersecurity talent has real-world impacts.”
The attack caused TPG’s shares to drop 2.8%. The company released a statement that it had already implemented measures to combat the attack and contacted the customers affected by the incident.
“We apologise unreservedly to the affected iiNet and Westnet Hosted Exchange business customers. We continue to investigate the incident and any potential impact on customers and are advising customers to take necessary precautions,” as stated by TPG in their formal statement.
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