CyberSecurity- Distributed Denial of Service Attack at IVK (based on Part 3 The

Question

CyberSecurity- Distributed Denial of Service Attack at IVK (based on Part 3 The Hero's Ordeal, Adventures of an IT Leader)

Assignment: Jim Barton wakes up to a very terrible day! Could his predecessor’s prediction come true? Barton won’t last a year as CIO at IVK? If you were Barton and you got the early morning call, what would be your impressions and experiences in the first few minutes after receiving the call from Ruben? What is YOUR assessment of how IVK handled the crisis? Do they do a good job of crisis management? Your response should consider the roles of various corporate stakeholders.

Explanation / Answer

It appears to make a mockery of the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ claim that the census fail was the result of a series of DDoS (distributed denial of service) attacks launched in a deliberate bid to sabotage the collection of data.

Head statistician David Kalisch claimed this morning the ABS shut down the site as a precaution after the fourth strike.

“It was an attack, and we believe from overseas,” he told ABC Newsradio.

Small Business Minister Michael McCormack then muddied the waters by stating this at an overdue press conference: “This was not an attack, nor was it a hack.

“It was an attempt to frustrate the collection of data. People should feel rest assured their data is safe.”

However, a tool devised by Google Ideas and cyber security company Abor Networks to track DDoS attacks around the world, the Digital Attack Map, failed to detect any unusual activity in Australia at the time the alleged attacks took place.

If accurate, it gives credence to accusations widely circulating on social media and beyond that mysterious overseas hacker story is a cover for the real culprit — incompetence.

But is it possible those responsible hid evidence of their activity via geoblocking, server location spoofing or other means?

We apologise for the inconvenience. The 2016 online Census form was subject to four Denial of Service attacks of varying nature & severity.

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