Police investigate 'cyber incident' at Australia ports operator DP World

SYDNEY - The Australian Federal Police said on Sunday (Nov 12) they were investigating a cybersecurity incident that forced ports operator DP World Australia to suspend operations at ports in several states.

"We've commenced an investigation into the incident and we're not commenting further as it's an ongoing investigation," an Australian Federal Police spokesperson said.

DP World Australia told Reuters on Saturday that operations at impacted ports were not yet restored.

A statement said the company was "working around the clock to restore normal operations safely" after the breach was detected on Friday.

A company spokesperson on Sunday did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on whether operations were restored.

DP World Australia, part of Dubai's state-owned ports giant DP World, operates four container terminals in Australia in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Western Australia's Fremantle.

Late on Saturday, Australia's National Cyber Security Coordinator Darren Goldie, appointed this year in response to several major data breaches, said the "interruption" was "likely to continue for a number of days and will impact the movement of goods into and out of the country".

"DP World Australia has advised it has restricted access to its Australian port operations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Fremantle while it investigates the incident," Mr Goldie said on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil said on Saturday that the government was coordinating a response to the "cyber incident".

According to DP World, in the Asia Pacific region it employs more than 7,000 people and has ports and terminals in 18 locations. 

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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.