An infection of Windows systems by the Emotet malware was the precursor to the recent ransomware attack on Victorian hospitals, the Australian Cyber Security Centre says, as part of a warning that Emotet, which has been around since 2014, is being spread in Australia by malicious emails.

Security firm CrowdStrike is touting for more business, beyond its base in the US. That's probably why the company has put out a mid-year threat report which mostly contains details of tactics, techniques and procedures.

An exploitation tool for Windows systems, used by an alleged Chinese hacking collective, uses a variant of an NSA exploit which was leaked online by a group known as the Shadow Brokers, the Israeli security company Check Point claims, adding that their findings suggested China and the US were in some kind of race to develop cyber exploits.