As if the cyber attacks launched by China last week and by Russia 3 months ago weren't enough for governments, businesses and households to contend with, now a collective of private hackers is targeting CCTV cameras around the globe.
(You can find more details on the Chinese and Russian sponsored hacking attacks here.)
While the latest private cyber infiltration is another headache for the targeted organisations and companies, including Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA), it could provide another tailwind for ASX cybersecurity shares as their services come under increasing demand.
What did the hackers target this time?
As Bloomberg reports, "an international hacker collective" is responsible for the most recent large-scale cyber breach. The group wanted to demonstrate the widespread use of CCTV across the world, and how easily those videos could be accessed by outside sources.
Their target was Silicon Valley-based Verkada Inc, in the US state of California. And they accessed "live feeds of 150,000 surveillance cameras inside hospitals, companies, police departments, prisons and schools." The cyber criminals also reported they have access to Verkada customers' entire video archives.
The video access obtained within prisons, schools and hospitals is likely the most sensitive from a privacy standpoint. But the biggest name target was Elon Musk's own Tesla. According to Bloomberg: "Another video, shot inside a Tesla warehouse in Shanghai, shows workers on an assembly line. The hackers said they obtained access to 222 cameras in Tesla factories and warehouses."
With the explosive growth of CCTV cameras (just look up the next time you're at the servo, grocery store or aboard public transport) it's no longer just Big Brother watching us. These hackers look to have a front-row seat as well.
ASX cybersecurity ETF share snapshot
ASX investors looking for exposure to a basket of 40 international cybersecurity shares may want to investigate the Betashares Global Cybersecurity ETF (ASX: HACK).
The exchange traded fund (ETF) doesn't hold any ASX listed cybersecurity shares, as those are all microcap shares… for now. Instead, it holds industry heavyweights like Crowdstrike Holding Inc (NASDAQ: CRWD) as its largest holding. Crowdstrike has a market cap of US$43 billion (A$56 billion).
The HACK share price, down 0.1% today, is up 21.9% over the past 12 months.
