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Retailers across Australia have been forced to shut their doors and only accept cash payments as network failures disrupt electronic payments.
It comes as websites and businesses reported that Windows PCs across Australia crashed with the blue screen of death on Friday (19 July) afternoon, including the national broadcaster the ABC, the big four banks, Foxtel, Telstra, and the NBN.
Shoppers have also reported that major retailers, including Coles, have been forced to only accept cash payments, with several Kmarts shutting its doors to customers.
The outages have also grounded planes in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, according to Australian Aviation.
The outage is believed to have come from a “technical issue” with a third-party software provider, Australia’s national cyber security coordinator Lieutenant General Michelle McGuinness said.
“I am aware of a large-scale technical outage affecting a number of companies and services across Australia this afternoon.
“Our current information is this outage relates to a technical issue with a third-party software platform employed by affected companies.
“There is no information to suggest it is a cyber security incident. We continue to engage across key stakeholders,” LTGEN McGuinness said.
More to come.
Liam Garman is the editor of leading Australian security and defence publications Cyber Daily and Defence Connect.
Liam began his career as a speech writer at New South Wales Parliament before working for world leading campaigns and research agencies in Sydney and Auckland. Throughout his career, Liam has managed and executed a range of international media and communications campaigns spanning politics, business, industrial relations and infrastructure. He’s since shifted his attention to researching and writing extensively on geopolitics and defence, specifically in North Africa, the Middle East and Asia. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Sydney and a Masters of Strategy and Security from UNSW Canberra, with a thesis on postmodernism and disinformation operations.
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