[AusNOG] Optus Hack

Tue Sep 27 13:26:09 AEST 2022

Hi Andrew,

         Based on the public information available there was no direct
access to the database involved in the breach, the attacker found an
unsecured public API endpoint (essentially your "broker") which they then
proceeded to query for every customer record iterating the contact id each
time, i.e. wget http://somedomain.com/some/api/contactid=1, wget
http://somedomain.com/some/api/contactid=2, etc..

Whether or not the database is in a private network is irrelevant, if
there's a conduit to it and if that doesn't have proper access controls
implemented you end up with this situation.

Best Regards,

Morgan

On Tue, Sep 27, 2022 at 1:00 PM Andrew M. Mathieson-Blakely <
andrew.mathieson-blakely at bmcg.net.au> wrote:

> What I don’t understand (and I am not a programmer) is why there isn’t a
> broker setup.  In the Mainframe world normally, you would have your
> database on a private network that will only server a request server and
> serve the data that it requests to see.  I really get nervous these days
> when databases are not behind private networks with no public access to
> whatsoever.
>
>
>
> That’s my food for thought be interested to see what goes on in the real
> world today but I just see this as not the most secure way to be handling
> any information that is stored in a database.
>
>
>
> Regards
>
>
>
>
>
> Andrew
>
>
>
> *From: *AusNOG <ausnog-bounces at ausnog.net> on behalf of Michael Kahl <
> michael at kahl.id.au>
> *Date: *Tuesday, 27 September 2022 at 12:40 pm
> *To: *Nathan Brookfield <Nathan.Brookfield at iperium.com.au>
> *Cc: *"ausnog at ausnog.net" <ausnog at ausnog.net>
> *Subject: *Re: [AusNOG] Optus Hack
> *Resent from: *<andrew.mathieson-blakely at bmcg.com.au>
>
>
>
> Is there any legal obligation to store sensitive ID information in its
> original form? Storing a hashed version only would be sufficient to prove
> the details had been collected and verify any future ID verification
> requirements without actually retaining the sensitive data.
>
>
>
> Separately, should the government provide an opt in two factor ID
> verification service for critical services such as telco, utilities,
> banking, etc? There are privacy concerns, however if implemented correctly
> they wouldn't be collecting any further information than what they legally
> have access to now.
>
>
>
> On Tue, Sep 27, 2022 at 11:12 AM Nathan Brookfield <
> Nathan.Brookfield at iperium.com.au> wrote:
>
> They’re legally obligated to retain it but why it’s on the API and why
> it’s not encrypted.
>
> Looking at the data some fields are hashed and then repeated in the bloody
> clear :(
>
> On 27 Sep 2022, at 11:02, glenn.satchell at uniq.com.au wrote:
>
> My understanding was that the data included the 100 points of ID info. Why
> are they retaining this? Surely after confirming the 100 points there only
> needs to be a record "100 points provided"=true and not retain the actual
> details. This goes back to only keeping the private data you need.
>
> regards,
> Glenn
>
> On 2022-09-27 10:49, Damien Gardner Jnr wrote:
> > Personally, I find putting Authentication on my API endpoints to be a
> > FANTASTIC first step towards API security.  And then not even using
> > public IP addresses in test environments is a pretty good second
> > step..  </onlyhalfsarcasticherewhydoesthiskeephappening>
> > On Tue, 27 Sept 2022 at 10:46, Bevan Slattery <bevan at slattery.net.au>
> > wrote:
> >> Hi everyone,
> >> Obviously a big week in telco and cybersecurity.  As part of my work
> >> I am on the Australian Cyber Security Industry Advisory Committee as
> >> an industry representative.
> >> I am keen to look at opening up a dialogue with more and more telco,
> >> DC and Cloud CISO’s on what they are doing around this issue and
> >> looking to take a proactive step towards best practice on customer
> >> data and system security.
> >> There will be some pretty serious consequences of this hack on the
> >> industry and importantly we need to make sure we are as best placed
> >> to help each other continually increase in security posture through
> >> best practice, but also working with each other as an industry.
> >> Are people keen on having a online/VC session sometime in the next
> >> few weeks where like-minded industry participants get together and
> >> discuss security, retention, encryption, threat detection etc.?  If
> >> so, just ping me directly and if there is enough interest I will
> >> send out an invitation to the list for a call.
> >> Cheers
> >> [b]
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> AusNOG mailing list
> >> AusNOG at ausnog.net
> >> https://lists.ausnog.net/mailman/listinfo/ausnog
> > --
> > Damien Gardner Jnr
> > VK2TDG. Dip EE. GradIEAust
> > rendrag at rendrag.net -  http://www.rendrag.net/
> > --
> > We rode on the winds of the rising storm,
> > We ran to the sounds of thunder.
> > We danced among the lightning bolts,
> > and tore the world asunder
> > _______________________________________________
> > AusNOG mailing list
> > AusNOG at ausnog.net
> > https://lists.ausnog.net/mailman/listinfo/ausnog
> _______________________________________________
> AusNOG mailing list
> AusNOG at ausnog.net
> https://lists.ausnog.net/mailman/listinfo/ausnog
> _______________________________________________
> AusNOG mailing list
> AusNOG at ausnog.net
> https://lists.ausnog.net/mailman/listinfo/ausnog
>
> _______________________________________________
> AusNOG mailing list
> AusNOG at ausnog.net
> https://lists.ausnog.net/mailman/listinfo/ausnog
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.ausnog.net/pipermail/ausnog/attachments/20220927/b90ef14b/attachment.htm>