DP World resumes port operations in Australia following a debilitating cyber attack

The Australian arm of the Dubai-based logistics company DP World has restored operations at several Australian ports days after it suffered a significant cyber attack that forced it to take several of its systems offline.

On November 10, DP World, one of Australia’s largest port operators, temporarily took its operations offline at several container terminals, including Sydney and Melbourne, after it detected a cyber security incident.

While the company did not share much information about the data security incident, the BBC reported that DP World’s ports in Australia resumed operations at 09:00 local time on November 13 “following successful tests of key systems overnight.”

“The company expects that approximately 5,000 containers will move out of the four Australian terminals today,” the company said in a statement shared with the media.

“The ongoing investigation and response to protect networks and systems may cause some necessary, temporary disruptions to [ports] services in the coming days. This is part of an investigation process and resuming normal logistical operations at this scale,” the company added.

DP World has notified Australian government authorities about the cybersecurity incident and is working closely with the National Cyber Security Coordinator, the Australian Cyber Security Centre, the AFP, Minister of Home Affairs and Cyber Security, Claire O’Neil, and Catherine King, the Minister for Infrastructure.

In a statement shared with the media, Air Marshall Darren Goldie, the government’s cyber-security coordinator, said that the company is working round the clock to resolve the issue and is making “good progress” at bringing its sites back online.

“While I understand there is interest in determining who may be responsible for the cyber incident, our primary focus at this time remains on resolving the incident and supporting DP World to restore their operations,” Goldie said.

"The Australian Government is continuing to work with DP World Australia to support the management of any further consequences, including any ongoing disruption to Australia’s supply chains. Investigations into the incident remain ongoing and remediation work is likely to continue for some time. I commend DP World Australia for their collegiate and timely communication with the Australian Government to date," he tweeted.

 

DP World hasn’t commented so far on whether it could identify the criminals responsible for the cyber attack or whether the attack led to the loss of sensitive personal information of Australians.

In an interview with the Singaporean news channel CNA, DP World’s Senior Director Blake Tierney said that the security incident has created certain restrictions in the company’s daily operations, however, it is working hard to resolve the matter and get back to normalcy as soon as possible.

“DP World Australia is working hard to assess whether any personal information has been impacted," Tierney added.