CyberCX

If a Black Friday deal seems to too good to be true, it probably is. That was the message from CyberCX's Alastair MacGibbon who spoke to Sunrise about how high volume holiday sales, in turn, attract a high volume of scammers. "People are looking for value, you go online for value. And during the frenzy of this period, which is the highest volume period for e-commerce, scammers play in there," said Alastair. "Criminals are more sophisticated using AI and other things to generate images, chat back to people, so it seems more human when the scammers are communicating back to the victims."   To reduce the likelihood of a scammer being at the other end of a bargain, Alastair said: 🔎 Do your online research into products and providers (don't click on ads, go to the website of the provider) ❗ Don't let a sense of urgency allow you to drop your guard 💳 Use proper payment methods like credit cards and PayPal

Joining ABC Radio National's Download This Show with Marc Fennell, CyberCX's Katherine Mansted discussed concerns and criticisms around the around the government's proposed Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation Bill 2024.   "It's not a bill that is telling Australians what to say or think," said Katherine. "It's really going after the platforms, asking them to come up with their own industry code for dealing with mis- and disinformation that the Australian Communications and Media Authority will then hold them to account for."   "You don't actually have to agree with the claims of think tanks and some politicians that this is a censorship bill or an anti-free speech bill in order to be worried by those claims," she continued. "Because if the Trump election has shown us anything, it's that when parts of the population feel that the information sphere is biased and that government is interfering with it, it pushes them to extremes."    Katherine said the task for the Australian government doesn't rest solely in making sure this bill works, but managing the perceptions that it doesn't. "That's even maybe a harder battle than the definitional one we're having now."   Listen to the full discussion here: https://lnkd.in/d_zMgKNM

Biotechnology has hugely positive applications, but it’s also a high value target for geopolitically and commercially motivated threat actors. And it's increasingly subject to national security based regulations and controls. CyberCX Intelligence was proud to partner with Health-ISAC on a joint whitepaper offering five actions that pharmaceutical and biotech companies can take now to prepare for the US BIOSECURE Act. If passed, this Act will prohibit US federally funded entities from using biotechnology from companies associated with foreign adversaries. It will also disrupt global pharmaceutical supply chains, impact R&D, and may increase the incentives for foreign governments to engage in malicious cyber attacks. Download the whitepaper to find out how the BIOSECURE Act could impact your organisation and for actions you can take today: https://lnkd.in/e39ZYeMa

Congratulations to our CEO and founder, John Paitaridis, on the prestigious recognition as CEO of the Year, IT and Telecommunications at The CEO Magazine's Executive of the Year Awards.   Five years ago, JP had a vision to build the leading cyber security firm in Australia and New Zealand. CyberCX has since become one of the fastest growing tech businesses across the Asia Pacific region and one of the largest cyber firms in the world.    "I’d like to express my sincere gratitude to my colleagues at CyberCX. This recognition is only possible because of their dedication, support and unwavering commitment," said JP. "Success is never about an individual - it’s always about the collective effort and team. I’m proud of our purpose and mission, to protect and defend our customers from cyber threats - and I’m proud that together, we have built a remarkable company."   By sharing his passion and engaging with our people and teams, together we are able to foster a collaborative, innovative and inclusive team culture at CyberCX, driving our mission to secure the communities in which we live and work. 

Regardless of the US election result, Australia’s leaders will be hoping to shore up support from the incoming administration for AUKUS according to Admiral Mike Rogers (ret.) who spoke to David Swan during a recent visit to Australia.   Admiral Rogers said that not enough emphasis had been placed on AUKUS’ second pillar: advanced capabilities such as quantum computing and cyber security.   “The focus on AUKUS tends to be on the submarine,” he said. “As important as that is, to me, tier two offers the potential for even greater and broader benefit.”   Read the full article in The Age here: https://lnkd.in/gHNiMp2P

With the United States heading to the polls today, CyberCX Global Advisory Board member Admiral Mike Rogers recently spoke to ABC’s Planet America about what it's like to work with both candidates from his time serving as the Director of the National Security Agency.   "[Trump's] experience had been as a Chief Executive Officer. He had never been the President of the United States or served in politics, so he very much felt, 'hey look, in essence, I am the CEO of the nation, so I want you to have the same loyalty to me that I would expect as a business CEO'," said Admiral Rogers.   "Senator Harris, the thing that I was always struck by: she was a prosecutor. So when you dealt with her, she could rapidly assimilate a lot of information," the Admiral continued. "She was always well prepared on the issue and she always wanted to ask you questions, she preferred yes or no answers and she wanted to drive you to a conclusion that she already had."

Speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald, former director of the US National Security Agency and CyberCX Global Advisory Board member Admiral Mike Rogers said the assassination attempts on former US president Donald Trump represent the growing threat of online extremism fuelled by ultra-partisan misinformation trending on social media.   “If you ask me what cybersecurity issue concerns me the most, I’ll be honest with you, it’s misinformation and disinformation,” Rogers said, describing this as “the manipulation of opinion and perspective in a democratic, free and open society; where adversaries, both outside as well as inside, are turning our freedoms against us to keep us divided and to keep us fighting each other.”   According to Admiral Rogers, such heightened online misinformation, combined with both major parties framing the election in apocalyptic terms, can lead to real-world violence.   You can read the full story online here: https://lnkd.in/dpX6W6_C

Our newest Technical Series blog explores how CyberCX uncovered a critical unauthenticated Remote Code Execution (RCE) vulnerability in a widely deployed NetComm Router.   The NTC-221 Industrial IoT M2M LTE/4G Router (NTC-221 Router) functions as a key element in industrial systems, connecting equipment to the internet via 4G networks.   "Our analysis revealed that the router’s firmware did not adequately sanitise user input in some web interface fields," writes CyberCX's Chris Watts. "Exploiting this vulnerability would allow an adversary to gain remote control over the router, leading to significant consequences."   Find out more in the blog here: https://lnkd.in/dePnsdBh

The United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney played host to an insightful discussion with CyberCX Global Advisory Board member Admiral Mike Rogers (ret.) on how to tackle some of the most pressing cyber and national security challenges of our time.   Joined by renowned ABC journalist and Planet America co-host, John Barron, the former Director of the US National Security Agency explored what cyber and national security policy would look like under a first Harris administration or second Trump administration, and what it could mean for the region.    The conversation also delved into the implications that major cyber incidents of the last two years — from the Russian invasion of Ukraine to the Volt Typhoon campaign — have for countries around the world and for Australian businesses.    Our thanks to the USSC and the University of Sydney for facilitating this exciting and eye-opening discussion. 

What are the cyber threats facing next week's US presidential election? Former NSA Director under President Obama and President Trump, Admiral Mike Rogers (ret.), joined ABC's Planet America for a fireside chat to unpack these threats.   A member of CyberCX's Global Advisory Board, Admiral Rogers said that the potential for deepfakes of nominees to have a significant impact on the race and potentially change voters’ minds is reflective of a society that is becoming numb to this kind of activity. "There's just so many uses of technology to make these really wild and distorted allegations or perceptions," said Admiral Rogers.    "You're seeing both domestic increases of [misinformation], but you're also seeing international actors - the Russians and Chinese, the Iranians - they believe that it clearly is having some measure of effect," he continued. "It's a view that, from many people's opinion, this can be used to manipulate opinion, to potentially change outcomes. They seem to be upping the game, this doesn't seem to be decreasing."