[July 28, 2011] Businesses alerted to hacking risk Tweet Jul 28, 2011 (Mass Media Distribution LLC via COMTEX) -- The Hon Robert McClelland MP, Attorney-General The Hon Brendan O'Connor MP, Minister for Home Affairs and Justice Australia (MMD Newswire) July 28, 2011 - - Attorney-General Robert McClelland and Minister for Justice Brendan O'Connor today said the arrest of a man over hacking charges should serve as a reminder to Australian business to protect themselves from cyber crime. The Australian Federal Police yesterday arrested a 25-year-old man from Cowra in connection with attempts to hack into the security systems of a number of Australian IT company networks. The AFP will today allege in court that the man infiltrated the companies' security systems causing significant financial and reputational damage. The affected companies include Distribute IT, Sydney University, Better Off Networks and Platform Networks. Platform Networks was a retail customer of NBN Co, but it is important to note that NBN Co systems have not been breached. The company was not assisting with the roll out of the network. The other affected companies were not associated with NBN Co. "Cyber crime is not a victimless crime. The AFP continues to investigate the attack on Distribute IT, which resulted in it going into receivership. About 150,000 of its customers were affected and up to $5 million in damages was sustained," Mr O'Connor said. "Malicious computer hacking won't be tolerated. Such criminality poses a serious risk to companies, and in the worst cases can threaten security and economic prosperity," he said. "Cyber crime is increasing as technologies evolve. The Internet and other technologies provide great benefits to our society and economy, but they also open new avenues for criminal exploitation and we all need to be aware of that." "I thank the AFP and other law enforcement agencies for their ongoing work to detect and stop cyber crime," Mr O'Connor said. Mr McClelland said Australian businesses should be vigilant when it comes to online security. "Simple precautions can be very effective - such as employee education, monitoring network traffic, completing background checks on staff and robust account and password policies," Mr McClelland said. "The Government is committed to supporting Australian law enforcement authorities in their work to combat this relatively new crime and to recognise the potential damage it can cause." Media Contacts: Jayne Stinson (O'Connor) Ryan Liddell (McClelland) - 6277 7300 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]