Australia’s cyber intelligence agency warned on Saturday that “malicious websites and unofficial code” have been circulating online, falsely claiming to offer recovery assistance following Friday’s global digital outage. This disruption, which impacted media, retailers, banks, and airlines, was triggered by a flawed software update from CrowdStrike. The Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) reported that these malicious sites and codes are exploiting the CrowdStrike incident to deceive organizations seeking to recover from the widespread outages.
On its website, the agency urged all consumers to obtain technical information and updates solely from official CrowdStrike sources. Cyber Security Minister Clare O’Neil also advised Australians on social media platform X to “be vigilant for potential scams and phishing attempts.”
The outage on Friday affected the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA.AX), the country’s largest bank, causing some customers difficulties with PayID payments, though the issue has since been resolved. National airline Qantas (QAN.AX) and Sydney airport reported flight delays, but flights continued as usual.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stated late Friday that there was no impact on critical infrastructure, government services, or emergency phone systems. CrowdStrike, a major cybersecurity provider with nearly 30,000 global subscribers, had previously achieved a market capitalization of around $83 billion.
