Australia sees ‘significant progress’ in restoring port operations after cyberattack threatens supply chains
- The disruptions threaten to hobble supply chains that were already working to fully recover from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic
- DP World is the latest victim of high-profile cyberattacks. Earlier this week, the major Chinese bank ICBC was struck by a ransomware attack
DP World Australia said it made “significant progress” in re-establishing freight operations at its ports, after a cyberattack on Friday limited access to several facilities across the country.
The company’s teams “are testing key systems crucial for the resumption of normal operations and regular freight movement”, DP World Australia said in a statement on Sunday. “A further update will be provided once this testing phase is complete.”
Government agencies held crisis talks over the weekend in response to what Home Affairs and cybersecurity Minister Clare O’Neil described as a “serious and ongoing” breach.
“DP World manages almost 40 per cent of the goods flowing in and out of our country, and this incident is affecting the ports of Melbourne, Fremantle, Botany and Brisbane,” O’Neil wrote in posts on X.
The ongoing disruption has not prevented containers from being taken off vessels, but trucks needed to transport them have not been able to drive in or out of the terminals, DP World senior director Blake Tierney said in a statement.
“The company is working around the clock to restore normal operations safely,” he added.
