The likes of BHP, FMG, Rio and Woodside listed as clients of hacked Bibra Lake contractor Pressure Dynamics

Some of the largest mining and energy companies in Western Australia are likely caught up in a cyber hack that allegedly saw huge amounts of data pilfered from a Bibra Lake business. Cyber-criminal syndicate DragonForce claims to have stolen more than 100 gigabytes of Pressure Dynamics International’s employee and client data. This data reportedly includes technical drawings of equipment, sensitive operational documents, and medical reports of staff. “Pressure Dynamics can confirm that it has recently identified a cyber security incident that had affected certain systems within our network,” a company spokesman said. “Upon detection, our cyber security team immediately initiated our incident response protocols and locked down our systems. “Pressure Dynamics has engaged cyber security experts to investigate the nature and scope of the incident and implement additional cyber security measures. We have also notified relevant authorities.” Businesses in Australia only have to report a cyber breach to the Office of Australian Information Commissioner if data has been compromised, or reasonably suspected to have been compromised, and these reports rarely become public. The spokesman also said the company had “significantly increased” its cyber security measures as a result of the incident. A document published by the State Government dated November 2023 lists Alcoa, BHP, Fortescue, Glencore, Newmont, Rio Tinto, South32, Woodside and Chevron as clients of Pressure Dynamics. All of these companies were contacted by The West, but the vast majority did not respond with a comment. Some companies, like South32, were aware of the incident, while others, like Chevron, were not. Pressure Dynamics specialises in building and maintaining a wide array of hydraulic systems used in mining, oil and gas extraction, and military equipment. On mine sites, Pressure Dynamics touts its work on bucket-wheel stacker reclaimers, which are essentially large pickers that retrieve mined ore from stockpiles. And in the oil and gas industry the company appears to mainly work on offshore platforms. It also does work for defence heavyweights, including the Australian arm of US-based missile and radar systems manufacturer Raytheon. Pressure Dynamics is owned by Snjezan Mackic, Esteban and Alessandro Cesan, Thomas Brennan and David Houston, according to documents filed with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. It is understood the Bibra Lake-based company has about 200 employees on its books. Pressure Dynamics’ cyber attacker — DragonForce — is a prolific and anonymous cyber-criminal syndicate that is thought to be based in Russia, given the group reportedly advertises its services on Russian-language Dark Web sites. Curtin University Associate Professor of computing Mihai Lazarescu told The West last year that Russian cyber gangs were among the world’s best at stealing troves of valuable data. “If you define success in in terms of how many systems you manage to breach, the Chinese will be way ahead,” he said. “But the Russians are better at getting the crown jewels.” DragonForce typically demands a ransom paid in cryptocurrency from its victims in exchange for the impacted business to regain access to its stolen information and for that data to not be published on the Dark Web. It is believed to have successfully penetrated the firewall defences of nearly 200 companies globally, including the Australian division of milk beverage maker Yakult and local lottery broker TheLotter. Last year, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner was notified of 1113 data breaches, which was a 25 per cent increase from 893 notifications in 2023.