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ARTICLE · 09 FEBRUARY 2024

Careful who you lend your keys to - cybersecurity

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When your system needs attention from an IT specialist, do some research to avoid an unintended cyber breach.

AustraliaTechnology
Brendan Read
Brendan Read
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Controversy surrounds the recent case of a German freelance IT service provider fined $3,265 for the unauthorised access of data.

He was hired to resolve logging issues and happened to find a plain text password on the client's system that enabled him to access the details of 700,000 customers unrelated to the original issue.1

It's a similar case to that of Nissan North America in which a third-party software developer contractor moved the personal details of 18,000 clients to the cloud where it was publicly accessible.2

In both cases, the contractor was there to help with an IT issue but ended up unwittingly causing a cyber breach. Contrast this with LandMark White, a NSW property valuation company, whose 170,000 customer records were deliberately exposed to the dark web by a contractor.3

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