DP World Australia announced on Tuesday that hackers managed to access files containing personal details of employees after a cyber breach earlier this month forced it to suspend operations for three days. The breach paralyzed the company's operations, which handles about 40% of Australia's imports and exports. It affected the company's container terminals in the ports of Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and Fremantle in Western Australia.
The Dubai government-owned company stated, "While the investigation found that customer data was not affected, some of the data accessed by the hackers includes personal information of current and former employees." A recent government report revealed that state-backed hacking groups have intensified their attacks on critical infrastructure, businesses, and homes in Australia, with one attack occurring every six minutes.
DP World did not provide details on who was behind the incident, but it confirmed that the investigations showed it was limited to its Australian operations and did not affect any other markets where the company operates. The company stated that no ransomware was discovered or deployed within the DP World Australia network. After the breach was detected, DP World’s services, one of the few shipping and unloading companies in Australia, were disconnected from the internet, significantly impacting shipping movements.
