Malicious websites target outage victims, Australia warns

The Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) – the country’s cyber intelligence agency – issued a warning regarding “malicious websites and unofficial code” circulating online.

These sites claim to offer assistance in recovering from Friday’s global digital outage, which impacted media outlets, retailers, banks, and airlines worldwide.

The outage stemmed from a botched software update by CrowdStrike, a major cybersecurity provider with nearly 30,000 subscribers globally. The company’s market capitalsation previously reached around $83 billion.

The ASD strongly urges all individuals and organisations to seek technical information and updates solely from official CrowdStrike sources.

Cyber Security Minister Clare O’Neil, posting on social media platform X, cautioned Australians to “be on the lookout for possible scams and phishing attempts” in the wake of the outage.

While the outage caused disruptions, it did not lead to critical infrastructure failures. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed late Friday that government services, emergency phone systems, and critical infrastructure remained operational.

Attribution: Reuters