Census Federal--BC2 (Canberra):
The Australian Bureau of Statistics has revealed its census
website sustained four malicious targeted attacks by foreign
hackers before being shut down.
The ABS has launched a joint investigation with the nation's
defence intelligence agency into the assault, which ramped up last
night as most of the population was going online to complete the
survey.
The ABS intrusions will put a spot light on the federal
government's cyber security strategy and the security of government
resources online.
****
However, Twitter was exploding on Wednesday under #CensusFail with
hundreds of people using the social media platform to ridicule the
ABS.
Some pointed to the website Digital Attack Map - which gathers
information on the top daily attacks worldwide - to argue there was
no record of any cyber intrusions in Australia on census night.
"hmmm. nothing unusual DDoS (disrupted denial of service) wise
for australia and yesterday," cyber security professional Matthew
Hackling tweeted on Wednesday.
Others asked why the ABS didn't just geoblock the census page so
only people inside Australia could access it.
Many users suggested the ABS issue would sound the deathknell
for online voting in Australia.
***
Meanwhile, Labor has slammed the federal government for leaving the
position of chief statistician vacant for a year after the national
census website was attacked by overseas hackers.
Labor wants the minister responsible for the botched census,
Michael McCormack, to resign and believes a re-run is not out of
the question.
Shadow assistant treasurer Andrew Leigh is furious the
government failed to properly explain its decision to take the
national survey online and fears it will blame the bureaucrats
after last night's foreign cyber attacks.
Attorney-General George Brandis says the government has been
assured by the ABS and the privacy commissioner that census data
protections are more than sufficient to protect people's
information.
****
Australia's privacy commissioner will investigate the cyber
attacks that shut down the census website.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics last night shut down the
site after four denial of service attacks while hundreds of
thousands of people were trying to complete the census.
Privacy Commissioner Timothy Pilgrim says his first priority is
to ensure that no personal information has been compromised as a
result.
