AUSTRALIA is facing an unprecedented cyber security crisis with new attacks from global hackers growing at a much faster rate than the federal government can respond.
The Australian claims a report to be released later this month paints a damning and frightening picture of a complacent nation that has not grasped the scale of the threat posed by cyber hackers to national security, the economy and personal privacy.
More than a million computers in Australia each year are said to be infected by viruses that can be used to bring down a website or network.
The Defence Department records more than 200 electronic attacks on its networks each month.
Hackers range from cyber spies working for foreign governments such as China to locally based criminal opportunists.
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The comprehensive report, by respected strategic think tank The Kokoda Foundation and obtained exclusively by The Australian, warns that cyber security has become the “fundamental weakness” in Australia’s national security and the threat is poorly understood by both politicians and the public.
The report, written by strategic consultant Gary Waters and former RAAF deputy chief John Blackburn, finds that Australia has reached “a tipping point where the current trajectory of cyber responses is being rapidly outpaced by the evolving threat”.
It warns that the threat could endanger critical infrastructure such as electricity grids, water storage and distribution, aviation and maritime transport and telecommunications networks.
The findings of the Kokoda report support disclosures in confidential US cables released by WikiLeaks showing that Australia’s intelligence agencies privately admitted in 2008 that they were struggling to comprehend the scale of the cyber threat.
Read more about Australia’s cyber security crisis at The Australian
Article source: http://www.news.com.au/technology/australia-under-attack-as-hackers-multiply/story-e6frfro0-1225980765432?from=public_rss
Category: Government Security Watch