Cyber security threat looming for Australia

By Jill Fraser

MELBOURNE, Australia (AA) – According to a cyber security report released Wednesday, terrorists could soon have the ability to hack into what are currently classified “secure” Australian government networks.

The Australian Cyber Security Centre’s Threat Report 2016 states that a recent series of attacks on high-profile agencies -- worldwide -- indicates that there’s “a willingness to use disruptive and destructive measures to seriously impede or embarrass organisations and governments”.

The report warns that threats for Australia are on the rise and estimates that within three years terrorists may be able compromise networks “with destructive effect”.

Between Jan. 1, 2015 and June 1, 2016 the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD), an intelligence agency in the Australian Government Department of Defence, responded to 1,095 cyber security incidents on government systems, which were considered serious enough to warrant operational responses.

Specifically the report reveals last year’s cyber attack on the Bureau of Meteorology was the work of a “foreign intelligence service”, which managed to install malicious software and steal sensitive documents.

“On investigation, ASD identified the presence of particular Remote Access Tool (RAT) malware popular with state-sponsored cyber adversaries, amongst other malware associated with cybercrime,” the official report states.

Dan Tehan, the minister assisting the prime minister for cyber security, wouldn’t specify which country, but said it showed cyber espionage was alive and well.

“We have to make sure that we’re taking all the steps necessary to keep us safe, because the threat is there and the threat is real,” he told ABC radio.

"We don't narrow it down to specific countries, and we do that deliberately, but what we have indicated is that cyber espionage is alive and well and that's why we want to be transparent in this report about the incident," Tehan said.

In 2015, the ABC alleged “China is being blamed for a major cyber attack on the computers at the Bureau of Meteorology, which has compromised sensitive systems across the Federal Government.”

In December, the ABC was told it would cost millions of dollars to plug the security breach.

The Shadow Assistant Minister for Cyber Security Gai Brodtmann released a statement Wednesday afternoon addressing the cyber security report. She referred to it as “a wake-up call to the Turnbull Government”.

In April, the government launched a major new cyber security strategy, the first in seven years, targeting improved cyber security.

Brodtmann said Wednesday’s report “suggests that terrorists and malicious non-state actors could develop an offensive cyber capacity within the life of this Parliament”.

“Timing is critical and delay is unacceptable,” he added.