Headline: Australia Bolsters Cyber Defences with New Security Measures Amid Surge in Attacks
Lead: In response to a sharp rise in cyber attacks, Australia has announced a comprehensive security overhaul that includes cyber health checks for small businesses, increased funding for cyber law enforcement, and the introduction of mandatory reporting of ransomware attacks. The country’s federal government aims to tackle the growing menace of cyber threats, which have compromised personal information of nearly half of the Australian population and disrupted critical infrastructures. This A$587m ($382m) plan also encompasses stricter reporting regulations for telecommunication firms, efforts to strengthen the cyber security workforce, and measures to encourage incident reporting through controlled inter-agency data sharing.
We cannot continue as we have, said Clare O’Neil, Minister for Cyber Security and Home Affairs. We can’t have a situation where we have data flying around the country, where we have critical infrastructure starting to fail, where we have small business and citizens who are continually telling us they feel vulnerable and unable to cope with the cyber threats themselves.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese emphasized the need to address cyber threats as part of national security, recognizing the economic impact such attacks can have. The Australian Cyber Security Centre reported a 24% increase in cyber-crime incidents in the year leading up to June, with costs to victims rising by 14%. The country’s higher profile as a result of a new defense agreement with the US and Britain has made it a more attractive target for cyber criminals.
Under the seven-year strategy unveiled by Minister O’Neil, it was revealed that while larger businesses often recover from cyber attacks, smaller enterprises face the risk of financial ruin. A survey by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission found that 44% of companies lacked plans to prevent data breaches originating from their supply chain partners.
The new plan has garnered support from businesses, highlighting the vulnerability of Australia’s estimated 2.5 million small and mid-sized enterprises to cyber crime. Patrick Wright, head of technology and enterprise operations at National Australia Bank, highlighted the need for action, stating, The small business sector is a huge driver of economic growth but they continue to face alarming rates of cyber crime.
The strategy implements measures such as the establishment of a single portal for reporting cyber attacks, the introduction of laws to prevent the sharing of personal data between government agencies, and the reduction of required customer data retention by companies. Recent breaches at telecom company Optus and leading health insurer Medibank Private exposed information, some of which had been stored for years, including data belonging to individuals who were not even customers.
With this unified and nationwide endeavor, Australia aims to counter the growing threat of cyber attacks and protect its citizens, businesses, and critical infrastructure from the devastating consequences of cyber crime.
