In a continuing cycle of spiking criminal cyber-attacks, TechnologyOne [ASX:TNE] was the latest ASX-listed company to enter into a trading halt and assess the damage.
The group said that its customers were not affected by the cyberattack as the company managed to isolate the attack within one of its back-end systems, far from customer files.
No further criminal activity has so far been detected, though the investigation continues to garner more information and preventative measures to combat the nature of the attack.
The good news is that TNE was back to trade by Friday morning and lifted by nearly 2% in share price.
A share was worth $14.93, the stock having bumped up 13.5% so far in 2013, and rides 35% above its sector average and 51% over the market average:
Source: TradingView
TechnologyOne gives the ‘all-clear’
On Wednesday, TechnologyOne said that an unauthorised third party illegally accessed its internal Microsoft 365 back-office system. In response, TNE immediately launched an investigation, halting its trade.
Even then, the group suspected that due to its customer-facing SaaS platform not being connected to the Microsoft 365 system, it did not expect this system to be impacted. However, procedure called for further investigation into the matter.
Today, the company reported from Brisbane to confirm its customer-facing SaaS platform was not affected and that the system is now fully secure.
It also added that no further illegal activity has been detected.
The company stated in its announcement this morning:
‘Our focus remains on the investigation into the incident to determine what data may have been accessed via our internal Microsoft 365 back-office system, and then as is necessary, to engage with impacted individuals on appropriate actions.
TechnologyOne maintains administrative information on its back-office system. The information held by TechnologyOne on its back-office system is separate to customer’s information and data on TechnologyOne’s SaaS platform, which is safe and secure.’
Cybercrime continues to evolve
Cybersecurity statistics report around 2,200 cyber-attacks each day, with a cyber-attack occurring every 39 seconds.
In the US, data breaches cost around US$9.44 million, with cybercrime expected to be up US$8 trillion before 2023 even began.
Things really ramped up during the stay-at-home era of COVID-19. Ever since, cybercrime has become increasingly sophisticated and prevalent in our modern society.
In Australia, ransomware is rife, with attacks on JBS Foods and the Nine Entertainment network occurring throughout 2021.
More recently, we had the Medibank cyber-attack which resulted in a huge loss of customer data. Additionally, there were data breaches on telecommunications group Optus and financial services company Latitude to name a few.
It would be wise for companies to revisit their cybersecurity measures and stay hyper-vigilant on that front.
At least today, shareholders and customers alike can rejoice that the criminals have not appeared to have found much success this time around.
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Regards,
Mahlia Stewart
For Money Morning
