In response to recent cyber-attacks on government websites and private networks, the Australian Department of Defence has announced that it will release a $15 billion package to boost security measures. $1.35 billion of this money has been earmarked to recruit 500 spies who will guard against state-sponsored hackers.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said cyber-terrorists have been targeting critical infrastructure as well as a range of government and private organisations, including education, health, and essential service provides.
Minister for Defence Linda Reynolds said that Australia is working closely with intelligence agencies in the UK and the US to combat cyber-crime. She also decried the attacks as an affront to Australia’s national security.
“Ultimately cyber security and cyber defence of our nation are increasingly the same thing,” Reynolds said. “If you attack, for example, our power grid or a water company or our banking system, whether you do it as a scam or whether you do it to actually bring down that system, they are both attacks on our national sovereignty.”
Despite many sources naming China as the perpetrator behind these attacks, the Prime Minister has not yet reproached any nation or organisation, but he did confirm that the scale of the attacks indicate that they are state-sponsored.
“We know it is a sophisticated state-based cyber actor because of the scale and nature of the targeting and the trade craft used,” he said.
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