Over the weekend, Australian superannuation fund providers fell victim to a massive cyberattack, resulting in as many as 20,000 customer accounts being compromised in what is believed to be a credential stuffing attack.
The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) disclosed in a statement last Friday that hackers had targeted multiple funds over the preceding weekend. Although the majority of the attempts were thwarted, a number of members were impacted. The affected funds are currently reaching out to all affected members to inform them and provide assistance to those whose data has been compromised.
According to reports in the local news, tens of thousands of accounts may have been compromised, with up to $500,000 being siphoned from them. AustralianSuper, the largest fund in the country valued at approximately AU$365 billion ($219 billion) with 3.5 million members, disclosed that 600 of its members were affected by the cyberattacks.
Rose Kerlin, the chief member officer of AustralianSuper, stated that there has been a surge in suspicious activity on their member portal and mobile app. Cybercriminals allegedly used stolen passwords from up to 600 members to gain unauthorized access to their accounts and attempt fraudulent activities. While immediate action was taken to secure these accounts and inform the affected members, AustralianSuper urges all members to take precautionary measures to safeguard their online security.
Similarly, Rest Super, managing around AU$93 billion ($56 billion), reported that approximately 8000 members had some of their personal details accessed, including their first name, email address, and member identification number. However, Rest Super assured that none of these members’ funds were impacted by the security breach.
Insignia Financial attributed the cyberattacks to credential stuffing, a technique where hackers use stolen credentials to gain unauthorized access to user accounts. Liz McCarthy, the CEO of Insignia Financial, confirmed that around 100 customers’ accounts on the Expand Wrap Platform had suspicious activity but stressed that no financial losses had occurred. The cybersecurity team is actively implementing additional monitoring and mitigation measures to safeguard customer accounts, and certain activities on the Expand Platform have been restricted as a precautionary measure.
Superannuation funds, also known as pension schemes in the UK and defined-benefit or defined-contribution plans in the US, are crucial for retirement savings and financial security. The recent cyberattacks on Australian superannuation funds highlight the increasing threats faced by financial institutions and the imperative need for robust cybersecurity protections to safeguard members’ sensitive information and assets.