ASIC skills up on data exfiltration via wi-fi

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is investing in its capability to investigate “technology-related crime” such as unauthorised use of wi-fi to access or exfiltrate data.

Outgoing ASIC chairman Greg Medcraft today said market crimes perpetrated with the aid of technology were an “emerging risk” and area of enforcement that the commission was looking at.

“An emerging risk is technology-related crime where people will hack into a wireless network at a law firm to gain inside information and then potentially offer that for sale on the darknet,” Medcraft said.

“This area of market crime is probably one that we really need to be on to going forward.

“[The combination of] cyber security ... with the market is one we need to be careful of going forward. We are investing in this area.”

Medcraft’s comments come less than a fortnight after the emergence of a major security flaw in the WPA2 protocol used to secure most wi-fi networks.

The attack, which was dubbed KRACK by the researchers that uncovered it, must be performed by someone in proximity to the wi-fi network being targeted.

That led telcos such as Optus to warn business customers to be vigilant about who came within wi-fi range of their offices.

Data breaches are likely to be more widely reported from late February next year when mandatory data breach notification laws come into effect.