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There are fears a cyber security incident that shut down a major port operator could place significant delays on Christmas deliveries.
Cybersecurity expert Troy Hunt told Weekend Today the hack on DP World could have "significant" impacts.
Australian Federal Police are investigating the incident on the port operator, which manages container terminals in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Fremantle.
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The incident is likely to disrupt the movement of goods for days.
"DP World possesses 40 per cent of maritime fright and if majority of that gets put on hold, that's pretty significant," Hunt told Weekend Today.
"At the moment we will have to wait to see how long it lasts for. These things can time to play out and it depends what happened, if (there was) access to data (and if) the system has been destroyed."
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Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil said the government was receiving regular briefings and was "working with DP World Australia to understand the impacts of the incident".
"The Australian government is aware of a cyber incident affecting ports operator DP World Australia," she said in a statement.
DP World has since launched an investigation and has restricted landside access to all ports.
"The company took immediate action, including disconnecting their internet connectivity, which stopped any ongoing unauthorised access to their network," DP World Australia said in a statement.
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"This has also resulted in key systems, which underpin operations at their Australian ports, to not function normally. This was necessary to contain the incident and minimise the impact on their employees, customers, suppliers and other stakeholders.
"DP World Australia is collaborating closely with government and private sector stakeholders to ensure that sensitive inbound freight can be prioritised and retrieved.
The company was working around the clock to restore normal operations safely, according to the statement.
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https://twitter.com/ClareONeilMP/status/1723148345747931490
National Cybersecurity Co-ordinator Air Marshal Darren Goldie, who co-chaired a National Co-ordination Mechanism meeting, said they would work with DP World Australia and its stakeholders.
"Our priority is to assist DP World Australia to resolve the incident, so they are in a position to restore access to the ports they operate across the country," he said in a statement.
"The Australian Signals Directorate's Australian Cyber Security Centre is engaged with DP World Australia and is providing technical advice and assistance.
"The Australian Federal Police has commenced investigations into the incident."
The National Co-ordination Mechanism will meet again today.
