Australian banks 'not immune' to hack attack

A senior security analyst says the major hacking attack which paralysed several South Korean banks and TV broadcasters this week could happen in Australia. According to the Korea Internet Security Agency, television stations KBS, MBC, YTN and two large banks were "partially or entirely crippled" by the malware attack. Trend Micro Australia's senior security manager Adam Biviano says it was a sophisticated attack that could occur in Australia. "Absolutely. I certainly don't think we're immune to this type of attack if we let our guard down," Mr Biviano said. "It can happen anywhere - it's not simply a matter of it just being South Korea being the only attack target. "We're seeing attacks like this happening across the globe."

The ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, NAB and Westpac have declined to comment on whether they are susceptible to such an attack. The Australian Bankers' Association says it does not have enough information about the South Korean attack to say whether it is possible here. Chief executive Steve Münchenberg says its member banks regularly discuss security issues. "However the nature of these discussions needs to remain confidential as any detail may be misused by criminals," he said. The attack in South Korea began when several computer screens went black, while others were showing images of a skull and a "warning".

Trend Micro says it has acquired several samples of related malware which renders computers inoperable. The attack prevented computers from loading by overwriting the master boot record with a series of the words 'hastati' and 'principes' - types of infantry in the early Roman Republic. There is some speculation the hacking came from across the border in North Korea, however officials in Seoul have not blamed Pyongyang. The attack came just days after North Korea accused the South and the United States of a hacking attack that took some of its sites offline for two days. North Korea has in the past staged cyber attacks on the world's most wired country, targeting conservative newspapers, banks and government institutions.

The biggest attack by Pyongyang was a 10-day denial of service attack in 2011 that antivirus firm McAfee, part of Intel Corp, dubbed 10 Days of Rain and which it said was a bid to probe the South's computer defences in the event of a real conflict.