Multinational oil and gas corporation Shell had its Australian unit, BG Group, impacted by the widespread MOVEit hack conducted by the Cl0p ransomware operation, reports Reuters.
Attackers were able to compromise data from some BG Group employees prior to the finalization of the companies' merger in 2016, according to Shell.
"The data is from 2013 and although it is historic and some of it may be out of date, there is a risk to impacted individuals of identity theft and being targeted by phishing campaigns," said Shell, which added that individuals affected by the incident are already being notified.
Such an incident suggests the pervasiveness of cybersecurity vulnerabilities across the corporate ecosystem of Australia, noted IG Markets analyst Hebe Chen.
"Not only does it expose the fragile protection measures that were in place, but it also raises questions about the effectiveness of the Australian government's national cybersecurity strategy," said Chen.
