Intelligent CIO APAC Issue 14 | Page 16

NEWS

BEC scams hit Australian construction sector

The Australian Cybersecurity Center ( ACSC ) has issued a high alert for construction companies in Australia .

The ACSC has reported there has been an increase in cybercriminals targeting builders and construction companies to conduct Business Email Compromise ( BEC ) scams within Australia in the past six months .
According to Michael McKinnon , Chief Information Officer , at Australia ’ s largest ASX-listed cybersecurity company , Tesserent , the Australian construction and manufacturing industry is one of the most vulnerable and targeted sectors for cybercriminals .
“ Australia ’ s construction industry is highly vulnerable to not only BEC scams , but also for phishing and ransomware attacks . This is a result of years of neglect in IT spending in the sector ,” he said .
“ Construction companies have frequently underestimated the importance of investing in technology and now many are exposed through outdated technologies running in their business and their reliance on less sophisticated Managed Service Providers .”
McKinnon reports that cybercriminals have worked out that construction companies are ripe for the picking and are attracted by the high volumes of money that change hands in the sector .
“ Attackers know that large invoices worth thousands to millions of dollars regularly change hands and they want a piece of that pie ,” he said .
“ Construction companies need to urgently review their technology systems and cybersecurity defenses and train staff on how to detect and report fraudulent emails .”

Tecala and eSentire partner to protect enterprises from cyberattacks

offer enterprises a powerful , all-in-one cybersecurity service which detects , disrupts and remediates known and unknown cyberthreats . Working with Tecala , eSentire will extend its global footprint beyond North America and EMEA into the Asia Pacific region .
Pieter DeGunst , Managing Director , Tecala

Tecala , Australia ’ s award-winning technology services and IT consulting provider , has announced it has chosen eSentire , a global authority in Managed Detection and Response ( MDR ) cybersecurity services , as its exclusive MDR solution provider in Australia and New Zealand .

This partnership will enable Tecala to augment its cybersecurity practice and
With over 1,000 customers in 70 countries around the world , eSentire is recognized as the industry ’ s leading MDR service provider . Tecala will be offering eSentire ’ s end-to-end MDR service as a comprehensive solution to customers across Australia and New Zealand .
“ eSentire exemplifies the type of partner we are seeking as we focus on delivering our portfolio of cybersecurity services ,” said Pieter DeGunst , Managing Director , Tecala . “ We want to help businesses reduce their manual processes and reinforce both security and Business Continuity .
“ eSentire ’ s ability to offer security solutions that scale and that handle large volumes of data , as well as produce enriched alerts and empowers us to respond to network anomalies , are all important to delivering the right outcomes for our customers .”
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