DP World Australia Experiences Cyber Attack, Personal Data On Employees Exposed

DP World Australia, one of the largest port operators in Australia. (photo: x alorabiya)

JAKARTA - DP World Australia, one of the country's largest port operators, announced on Tuesday 28 November that hackers had accessed files containing personal details of employees following a cyber incident earlier this month forcing the company to halt its operations for three days.

The security breach, which was detected on November 10, paralyzed the company's operations, which managed about 40% of goods entering and leaving Australia, and affected container terminals in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and Fremantle, Western Australia.

"Although the investigation has shown that customer data has not been affected, some of the affected data include the current and previous employee personal information," the company said, which is part of the Dubai government's DP World.

Country-backed cyberclusters and hackers have stepped up their attacks on critical infrastructure, businesses and homes in Australia, as shown in a recently released government report, where one attack occurs every six minutes.

DP World did not provide details about the perpetrators, but said its investigation confirmed that the incident was limited to its operations in Australia and did not affect other markets where the company operates.

No ransomware was found or used on Australia's DP World network, the company said in a statement.

After detecting the breach, DP World, one of the few stevedore industry players in Australia, cut a connection from the internet, significantly affecting the movement of goods.

The company said it had completed a backlog of more than 30,000 containers by November 20.