New York Stock Exchange cyber attack?
The New York Stock Exchange, United Airlines and the Wall Street Journal have all fallen victim to a series of massive technical glitches within hours of each other.
NYSE halted all trading for 'technical reasons' at 11:32am and only reopened at 3:10pm - but says the problem is an internal one and not the result of a cyberattack.
It comes as tens of thousands of United Airlines passengers were stranded at U.S. airports on Wednesday morning after all of the carrier's flights were grounded nationwide due to a 'router problem'.
The Wall Street Journal was also left unable to publish for several hours after its systems came under attack.
Several hours later, the exchange put out a statement with few details on what happened, other than to attribute blame to a “configuration issue.”
Jeh Johnson, United States Secretary of Homeland Security said “It appears that the malfunctions were not a result of any nefarious action. However at this stage we don’t know the cause of the Wall Street Journal website shut down.”
CYBER INSURANCE
Cyber insurance, to reimburse the financial losses brought about by a cyber-attack, in now available in Australia.
Recently an Australian based business was the subject of a cyber-attack. Hackers had made numerous extortion threats and stole sensitive data from them. The business was completely unprepared for the attack, Acting Assistant Brian Hay from the State Crime Command said “We are strongly urging business to ensure their computer systems are secure and protected from hackers.”
The attack highlights the importance purchasing a Cyber Liability & Privacy Protection policy, as now offered by companies such as Dual Australia. Key elements of cover are:
• Third Party Claims - the Insured's liability to third parties from a failure to keep data secure, such as claims for compensation by third parties, investigations, defence costs and fines and penalties from breaching the Privacy Act.
• First Party Costs - reimburses the Insured for the costs they would incur to respond to a breach, such as IT Forensic Costs, Credit Monitoring Costs, Public Relations Expenses and Cyber Extortion Costs (including ransom payments to hackers).
• Business Interruption - provides reimbursement for the Insured's loss of profits resulting from the breach, as well as any additional necessary expenses it may need to incur to continue business as usual.
For obligation free advice for your business' cyber and general insurance needs contact us, Livingstons Insurance Brokers; 02 8094 1514 info@insurancebroker.com.au.