Defective Security Certificate Results in Six-Hour Senate Website Downtime
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Quick Overview
- A six-hour interruption of the Senate website resulted from an expired security certificate.
- The certificate was not documented and was tied to a former staff member.
- Since October of last year, APH.gov.au has experienced three additional outages.
- DPS has encountered various cybersecurity threats, such as phishing and malware attacks.
Outage of Senate Website Due to Security Certificate Expiration
Outage Details
The Australian Senate’s live web service, referred to as ‘Dynamic Red’, faced a notable outage due to an expired security certificate. This incident persisted for six hours, hindering the capability of legislators, journalists, and the public to monitor Senate proceedings in real-time.
Origin and Action Taken
The expired certificate was from a vendor not commonly utilized by the Department of Parliamentary Services (DPS) and was linked to a previous employee. The absence of documentation and oversight regarding the certificate resulted in delays in pinpointing and rectifying the problem.
Prior Outages and Cybersecurity Issues
Beyond this event, the APH.gov.au site has encountered three earlier outages since October of the previous year. These disruptions were attributed to elements such as the YisouSpider web crawler and various technical dependencies.
DPS has also been tackling notable cybersecurity threats, thwarting over 7000 phishing attempts and probing several cyber alerts.
Conclusion
The recent outage of the Senate website underscores the essential nature of managing security certificates and upholding strong cybersecurity protocols. As digital services gain prominence, ensuring their dependability and security is crucial for government functions.
Q: What led to the Senate website outage?
A: The outage was caused by an expired security certificate, which was undocumented and associated with a former employee.
Q: What was the duration of the outage?
A: The outage persisted for six hours, affecting real-time monitoring of Senate activities.
Q: Have there been any past issues with the website?
A: Indeed, there were three additional outages since October of last year, resulting from issues like the YisouSpider web crawler.
Q: How is DPS managing cybersecurity threats?
A: DPS has prevented over 7000 phishing attempts and remains active in investigating cyber alerts to safeguard its digital services.
