Australia faces more and more cyberthreat challenges than ever

Advancements in critical and emerging technologies offer significant social and economic benefits, it also enlarges the number of ways malicious threat actors can use to attack digital systems and disrupt Australia’s critical infrastructure.

State-sponsored cyber actors persistently targeted Australian governments, critical infrastructure and businesses last year.

“These actors conduct cyber operations in pursuit of state goals, including for espionage, in exerting malign influence, interference and coercion, and in seeking to pre-position on networks for disruptive cyberattacks,” the Australian Signals Directorate’s Australian Cyber Security Centre (ASD’s ACSC) annual cyber threat report says.

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is one of the state-sponsored threat actors that has set its sight on Australia. Their primary goal is to disrupt Australia’s critical infrastructure rather than to implement espionage campaigns.

Furthermore, the report mentions that Russia is adapting its techniques and focuses on exploiting cloud platforms. “The evolution of this tradecraft means that network defenders must prioritize and invest in cybersecurity skills, resources and teams,” the ASD recommends.

Critical infrastructure networks are an attractive target for threat actors, because they hold sensitive data and could potentially disrupt society severely. Last year, over 11% of all cybersecurity incidents the ASD responded to was related to critical infrastructure.

Cybersecurity experts emphasize that cybercrime is a persistent and disruptive threat. They also acknowledge that cybercriminals are experimenting with artificial intelligence (AI) more and more, which reduces the level of sophistication needed for cybercriminals to operate.

To combat state-sponsored threat actors, hackers and cybercriminals, strong partnerships are essential. That’s why the ASD continues to cooperate across all levels of government, an increasing number of industry partners, and international organizations and institutions.

“A robust partnership between government and industry underpins our ability to effectively defence the nation against malicious cyber activity,” the report states.

Lastly, the ASD stresses that cybersecurity isn’t a set-and-forget matter. Instead, organizations should constantly monitor their digital environments and regularly update their security practices and protocols to enforce their digital resilience, now and in the future.