Cyber-Attack on Tasmanian Government with 16,000+ Documents Compromised

Last Month Australia already had its fair share of cyber attacks, such as the now well know ‘Latitude Attack’. Another report has been released of a cyber attack that took place on Good Friday. 16,000 documents were accessed and taken from the 'Department of Education, Children and Young People' through a third-party file transfer service called GoAnywhere MFT. As stated on the official website of the Tasmania Government, a few examples of data accessed included bank accounts, addresses, and the names of children, including their school and what year they are in, affected victims were sent an email detailing the incident and asked to monitor any suspicious activity that may occur in the future.

Over the weekend, Secretary of Department of Premier and Cabinet, Jenny Gale, and Commissioner Donna Adams wrote a joint letter to the media and Labor Opposition about the situation, urging not to give coverage over the topic.

"Cyber criminals … operate as organised crime and work on a ransomware business model that creates uncertainty and fear. The current media environment is fuelling that business model," they wrote.
"I would appreciate your cooperation by heeding the same advice and not doing any further media.
Commissioner Adams and Ms. Gale said authorities would now only be providing comment on the breach "if there is a significant event to inform the community."
"[We] would strongly encourage a united approach," they said.
"The security advice is that continual coverage … can increase the cyber risk to Tasmania."

Lawyers and Labor figures have responded to the letter claiming it was “outrageous" and “extraordinary”, Greg Barns SC from the Australian Lawyers Alliance said it set "a very troubling precedent".

"In a democracy, we rely on opposition parties, and we rely on the media, to keep government accountable," he said.
"Some very serious matters have been raised about the competence of the Rockliff government's handling of this matter and it's incumbent on the opposition and the media to ensure that they continue public scrutiny of the government.
"We have not seen in Australia any police commissioner do anything like this in such a ham-fisted way.
"It's saying if there's any compromise of Tasmanian databases, we shouldn't talk about it, we should just let the government have their way".

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Cyber-Attack on Tasmanian Government with 16,000+ Documents Compromised

"Cyber criminals … operate as organised crime and work on a ransomware business model that creates uncertainty and fear. The current media environment is fuelling that business model," they wrote.

"I would appreciate your cooperation by heeding the same advice and not doing any further media.

Commissioner Adams and Ms. Gale said authorities would now only be providing comment on the breach "if there is a significant event to inform the community."

"[We] would strongly encourage a united approach," they said.

"The security advice is that continual coverage … can increase the cyber risk to Tasmania."

"In a democracy, we rely on opposition parties, and we rely on the media, to keep government accountable," he said.

"Some very serious matters have been raised about the competence of the Rockliff government's handling of this matter and it's incumbent on the opposition and the media to ensure that they continue public scrutiny of the government.

"We have not seen in Australia any police commissioner do anything like this in such a ham-fisted way.

"It's saying if there's any compromise of Tasmanian databases, we shouldn't talk about it, we should just let the government have their way".

Your Security is our Priority

Cyber-Attack on Tasmanian Government with 16,000+ Documents Compromised

"Cyber criminals … operate as organised crime and work on a ransomware business model that creates uncertainty and fear. The current media environment is fuelling that business model," they wrote.

"I would appreciate your cooperation by heeding the same advice and not doing any further media.

Commissioner Adams and Ms. Gale said authorities would now only be providing comment on the breach "if there is a significant event to inform the community."

"[We] would strongly encourage a united approach," they said.

"The security advice is that continual coverage … can increase the cyber risk to Tasmania."

"In a democracy, we rely on opposition parties, and we rely on the media, to keep government accountable," he said.

"Some very serious matters have been raised about the competence of the Rockliff government's handling of this matter and it's incumbent on the opposition and the media to ensure that they continue public scrutiny of the government.

"We have not seen in Australia any police commissioner do anything like this in such a ham-fisted way.

"It's saying if there's any compromise of Tasmanian databases, we shouldn't talk about it, we should just let the government have their way".

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