www.abc.net.au Open in urlscan Pro
2.18.232.124  Public Scan

Form analysis
0 forms found in the DOM

Text Content

Skip to main content
ABC News Homepage
Set locationFor local weather

SearchLog InLog InMore from ABC

 * Just In
 * Watch Live
 * Coronavirus
 * Politics
 * World
 * Business
 * Analysis
 * Sport
 * Science
 * Health
 * Arts
 * Fact Check
 * Other
 * More

News HomeABC News Homepage

Personal details of up to 80,000 SA government employees accessed in cyber
attack

Share


ARTICLE SHARE OPTIONS


SHARE THIS ON

 * Facebook
 * Twitter
 * LinkedIn


SEND THIS BY

 * Email
 * Messenger
 * Copy link
 * WhatsApp




PERSONAL DETAILS OF UP TO 80,000 SA GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES ACCESSED IN CYBER
ATTACK

By Stacey Pestrin and Eugene Boisvert
Posted Fri 10 Dec 2021 at 2:54amFriday 10 Dec 2021 at 2:54amFri 10 Dec 2021 at
2:54am, updated Fri 10 Dec 2021 at 12:36pmFriday 10 Dec 2021 at 12:36pmFri 10
Dec 2021 at 12:36pm

The records of at least 38,000 South Australian Government employees were
accessed.(Pexels)
Share this article
Print content
Print with images and other media
Print text only
PrintCancel

abc.net.au/news/thousands-of-sa-government-employees-affected-by-cyber-attack/100690564
Copy linkShare


ARTICLE SHARE OPTIONS


SHARE THIS ON

 * Facebook
 * Twitter
 * LinkedIn


SEND THIS BY

 * Email
 * Messenger
 * Copy link
 * WhatsApp



The South Australian government says the personal details of tens of thousands
of employees, including potentially the Premier, have been accessed in a
cyber-attack.


KEY POINTS:

 * The SA Government says its external payroll software provider was the victim
   of a "cyber incident"
 * At least 38,000 employees have had their personal details accessed
 * Up to 80,000 employees could be affected



The government said the records of at least 38,000 employees, but potentially up
to 80,000 workers, have been accessed in a cyber-attack on external payroll
software provider Frontier Software.

The data includes names, dates of birth, tax file numbers, home addresses, bank
account details, remuneration and superannuation contributions.

It said Frontier, which has provided payroll services to the government since
2001, was the victim of a "ransomware cyber attack" last month and the
information was stolen and "published on the dark web".

Treasurer Rob Lucas said politicians, including Premier Steven Marshall, could
be among those affected.

> "The highest of the high to the lowest of the low and all of the rest of us in
> between are potentially impacted, with the exception of teachers and the
> Department for Education," he said.

The Department for Education does not use Frontier.

Mr Lucas said the theft was being investigated and staff have been offered
support.


South Australian Treasurer Rob Lucas said information to employees was provided
as quickly as possible.(ABC News)

"This is obviously of great concern to the government," he said.

Mr Lucas said the government was first told on Wednesday evening that state
government data had been accessed, but it was confirmed on Thursday afternoon
that the breach involved employees' personal information.

"We've acted expeditiously," he said.

"As soon as we've been able to get information together, provide accurate
information to our employees, we've done so."

Mr Lucas said he had no evidence that the personal information had been used.

Government employees have been advised to take "precautionary action" such as
contacting their financial institutions and changing their passwords.


Public Service Association of SA general secretary Nev Kitchin.(Supplied: Public
Service Association of SA Inc)

"Having the bank account details doesn't give you access to the bank account,
but it's the first step in trying to crack a code in terms of passwords," Mr
Lucas said.

The state government said employee pay cycles would not be affected.

While the impacts of the breach will cost "a significant sum of money", Mr Lucas
said the government's main concern was the "welfare of employees".

Public Service Association of SA general secretary Nev Kitchin said the
situation was "obviously very concerning".

"We expect the state government to take all possible steps to review its cyber
security measures in order to prevent such an event in the future," he said.

"In the meantime, we expect the government to do everything possible to minimise
the effects of this security breach and to provide the support our members
need."


SA GOVERNMENT ONLY CLIENT AFFECTED 

Frontier Software Australia chief executive Nick Southcombe said the company
advised its customers of cyber-attack last Friday.

"We are continuing to review and catalogue the data that we believe was stolen
from our internal corporate environment, with a primary focus on identifying any
customer data that may have been stolen," Mr Southcombe said.

"Given that data was only stolen from our internal corporate environment, we
assess that the number of impacted clients will be very limited.

> "At this point, we have only identified one customer that has been affected,
> being the government of South Australia, and we are communicating directly
> with them and providing as much assistance as we can.

"Should we identify further customers impacted by this data theft, we will reach
out to them directly as soon as possible."

Shadow Treasurer Stephen Mullighan said managing data was a basic responsibility
of government and "it is now clear the Marshall Liberal government can't be
trusted to keep South Australians' data safe".

"The government has to explain why a security breach that happened four weeks
ago is being revealed only now," he said.

Ajay Unni, founder and chief executive of the Sydney cybersecurity firm Stickman
Cyber, said there was a 15 per cent increase in ransomware attacks across all
types of organisations last financial year.

"So some kind of scams will be now created as part of this process and also some
of this data can also be used for identity theft and also for creating fake
identities," he said.

Posted 10 Dec 202110 Dec 2021Fri 10 Dec 2021 at 2:54am, updated 10 Dec 202110
Dec 2021Fri 10 Dec 2021 at 12:36pm
Share
 * Copy link
 * Facebook
 * Twitter


 * ARTICLE SHARE OPTIONS
   
   
   SHARE THIS ON
   
    * Facebook
    * Twitter
    * LinkedIn
   
   
   SEND THIS BY
   
    * Email
    * Messenger
    * Copy link
    * WhatsApp
   
   


RELATED STORIES


HACKERS ACCESS MYSA GOV DIGITAL LICENCE ACCOUNTS, PROMPTING WARNING FROM
GOVERNMENT




FEDERAL GROUP'S PAYROLL PROVIDER HACKED, STAFF GIVEN EMERGENCY $250 PAYMENT




BUSINESSES WILL SOON BE FORCED TO REPORT WHEN THEY ARE HELD TO RANSOM THROUGH
CYBER ATTACKS


More on:
 * Adelaide
 * Crime
 * Hacking
 * Information Technology
 * Public Sector
 * State and Territory Government
 * Work


TOP STORIES


 * WARNING WA'S COVID-FREE BUBBLE 'ABOUT TO BURST' WITH FEBRUARY 5 LOCKED IN AS
   BORDER OPENING DATE


 * HOW LIFE WILL CHANGE WHEN WA RECONNECTS WITH THE WORLD ON FEBRUARY 5


 * AUSTRALIA TO GET MORE OF CRUCIAL TRUCKING CHEMICAL AFTER CHINA CRACKS DOWN ON
   WORLD MARKET


 * SAFETY FIRST, CONFUSION SECOND, AS TASMANIA READIES TO OPEN UP TO THE WORLD

 * analysis
   
   
   'WE WENT CAR RACING', BUT WAS IT A FAIR FIGHT FOR THE FORMULA 1 DRIVERS'
   CHAMPIONSHIP?


 * ALLEGED MURDER VICTIM'S INJURIES WERE SOME OF THE WORST PARAMEDICS HAD SEEN,
   COURT HEARS


 * PERTH MOTHER KILLED TWO YOUNG DAUGHTERS BECAUSE SHE DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE THEM
   BEHIND, COURT HEARD


 * 'I JUST WANT TO BE WITH HIM': LOVE CONQUERS ALL AS COUPLES REUNITE


 * HOW QUEENSLAND'S NEW CHO EXPECTS COVID TO TAKE HOLD IN THE STATE


 * VICTORIAN TEEN GETS MORE THAN SIX YEARS FOR STABBING MANSLAUGHTER OF THOMAS
   TRAN, JUDGE SAYS HE 'AGONISED' OVER SENTENCE


 * 'A NATURAL MOAT': TAIWAN'S DEFENCE MINISTRY OUTLINES DIFFICULTIES IF CHINA
   DECIDES TO INVADE


 * COVID TESTS FOR NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS AMID POSSIBLE LINKS TO NIGHTCLUB OUTBREAK


 * CHILDREN FROM SCHOOL SOUTH OF ADELAIDE TOLD TO QUARANTINE UNTIL CHRISTMAS
   AFTER ASSEMBLY NAMED AS EXPOSURE SITE


 * DAYLIGHT EXECUTION OF SYDNEY LAWYER 'AMATEURISH' AND 'SHAMBOLIC', COURT TOLD


 * VLADIMIR PUTIN SAYS HE MOONLIGHTED AS A TAXI DRIVER IN THE 1990S


TOP STORIES


WARNING WA'S COVID-FREE BUBBLE 'ABOUT TO BURST' WITH FEBRUARY 5 LOCKED IN AS
BORDER OPENING DATE




HOW LIFE WILL CHANGE WHEN WA RECONNECTS WITH THE WORLD ON FEBRUARY 5




AUSTRALIA TO GET MORE OF CRUCIAL TRUCKING CHEMICAL AFTER CHINA CRACKS DOWN ON
WORLD MARKET




SAFETY FIRST, CONFUSION SECOND, AS TASMANIA READIES TO OPEN UP TO THE WORLD


analysis


'WE WENT CAR RACING', BUT WAS IT A FAIR FIGHT FOR THE FORMULA 1 DRIVERS'
CHAMPIONSHIP?




ALLEGED MURDER VICTIM'S INJURIES WERE SOME OF THE WORST PARAMEDICS HAD SEEN,
COURT HEARS




PERTH MOTHER KILLED TWO YOUNG DAUGHTERS BECAUSE SHE DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE THEM
BEHIND, COURT HEARD




'I JUST WANT TO BE WITH HIM': LOVE CONQUERS ALL AS COUPLES REUNITE




HOW QUEENSLAND'S NEW CHO EXPECTS COVID TO TAKE HOLD IN THE STATE




JUST IN


 * SAFETY FIRST, CONFUSION SECOND, AS TASMANIA READIES TO OPEN UP TO THE WORLD
   
   Posted 2h ago2 hours agoMon 13 Dec 2021 at 9:41am


 * HOW LIFE WILL CHANGE WHEN WA RECONNECTS WITH THE WORLD ON FEBRUARY 5
   
   Posted 2h ago2 hours agoMon 13 Dec 2021 at 9:36am


 * ALLEGED MURDER VICTIM'S INJURIES WERE SOME OF THE WORST PARAMEDICS HAD SEEN,
   COURT HEARS
   
   Posted 2h ago2 hours agoMon 13 Dec 2021 at 9:30am


 * VICTORIAN TEEN GETS MORE THAN SIX YEARS FOR STABBING MANSLAUGHTER OF THOMAS
   TRAN, JUDGE SAYS HE 'AGONISED' OVER SENTENCE
   
   Posted 2h ago2 hours agoMon 13 Dec 2021 at 9:18am


 * VLADIMIR PUTIN SAYS HE MOONLIGHTED AS A TAXI DRIVER IN THE 1990S
   
   Posted 3h ago3 hours agoMon 13 Dec 2021 at 8:39am


 * 'HER LIFE WAS ENDED FOR HER': INQUEST INTO DISAPPEARANCE OF MOTHER OF SIX
   BEGINS
   
   Posted 3h ago3 hours agoMon 13 Dec 2021 at 8:21am

More Just In
Back to top


FOOTER

ABC News homepage
More From ABC NEWS

We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First
Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and
work.


SECTIONS

 * ABC NEWS
 * Just In
 * Watch Live
 * Coronavirus
 * Politics
 * World
 * Business
 * Analysis
 * Sport
 * Science
 * Health
 * Arts
 * Fact Check
 * Other


NEWS IN LANGUAGE

 * 中文
 * Berita Bahasa Indonesia
 * Tok Pisin


CONNECT WITH ABC NEWS

 * Facebook
 * Twitter
 * Instagram
 * YouTube
 * Apple News


MORE FROM ABC NEWS

 * Contact ABC NEWS

This service may include material from Agence France-Presse (AFP), APTN,
Reuters, AAP, CNN and the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be
reproduced.

AEST = Australian Eastern Standard Time which is 10 hours ahead of GMT
(Greenwich Mean Time)

 * Editorial Policies
 * Accessibility
 * Help
 * Contact Us
 * About the ABC
 * Privacy Policy
 * Terms of Use
 * © 2021 ABC

 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 


MORE FROM ABC

Close menuABC
iviewListen
 * ABC Home
 * News
 * Radio
 * iview
 * Everyday
 * More


EDITORIAL POLICIES

Read our editorial guiding principles
 * Accessibility
 * Help
 * Contact Us
 * About the ABC
 * Privacy Policy
 * Terms of Use
 * © 2021 ABC

 * 
 * 
 * 
 *