The Government has announced plans to use “offensive capabilities” in a bid to curb the growing number of cyber attacks.
Following the recent, high-profile ransomware attacks which have impacted both global and local businesses, the Government has directed the Australian Signals Directorate to go on the offensive to “disrupt, degrade, deny and deter organised offshore cyber criminals”.
The Government has also set-up a military unit, under the Australian Defence Forces, called the Information Warfare Division which was launched earlier this week.
“The use of this capability, which is currently used to help target, disrupt and defeat terrorist organisations such as Daesh, is subject to stringent legal oversight and consistent with our obligations under international law,” Dan Tehan, minister assisting the Prime Minister for cyber security said.
Since its inception at the end of 2014, there have been more than 114,000 reports of cybercrime registered with the Australian Cybercrime Online Reporting Network (ACORN) with 23,700 reported in the last six months.
“Our response to criminal cyber threats should not just be defensive,” Tehan continued.
“We must take the fight to the criminals.”
Tehan stressed that businesses must be proactive in protecting themselves online as cyber threats continued to rise.
Speaking to
Insurance Business after the recent Petya cyber attack, Samuel Rogers, national practice leader for cyber risk at
JLT, said that businesses need to build a cyber secure culture to help curb risk.
“The biggest issue, and this is something insurers are paying attention to as well, is building an information secure culture within your organisation,” Rogers said.
“The weakest link, when it comes to information security in any organisation, is between the person sitting in front of a screen and the computer itself.”
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