Page 64 - Australian Defence Magazine April-May 2021
P. 64

                  64 CYBER OVERVIEW
APRIL-MAY 2021 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
  Response Lab, which aims to help SMEs col- laborate with Defence on training and tools. The Home Affairs portfolio is also in- volved in the sector through Australia’s Cyber Security Strategy 2020, which will invest $1.67 billion over a decade to create a ‘more secure online world for Australians.’ The funding is a major increase from the $230 million put forward by the 2016 ver-
sion of the strategy.
“Between 1 July 2019 and 30 June 2020,
“ONE NOTABLE INITIATIVE HAS COME FROM TELSTRA, WHICH USED THE SHIFT TO HOME WORKING AFTER THE BEGINNING OF THE PANDEMIC TO INTRODUCE CLEANER PIPES.”
attack on Australia by a ‘state-based cyber actor’ (widely attributed to China) in June last year, which prompted Prime Minister Scott Morrison to take the unusual step of warning the public of what was happening.
Part of the response to these intrusions outlined in the 2020 strategy is the cre- ation of a $62.3 million national situational awareness capability, which will collate in- formation from operators of major national infrastructure, and the investment of $66.5 million to assist those same operators in strengthening their defences. The strategy
 the [Australian Cyber Security Centre] re-
sponded to 2,266 cyber security incidents at
a rate of almost six per day,” the strategy states. “This does not include other incidents referred to the police and sup- port organisations.
“The true volume of malicious activity in Australia is likely to be much higher. According to one expert analysis, cyber incidents targeting small, medium and large Austra- lian businesses can cost the economy up to $29 billion per year, or 1.9 per cent of Australia’s gross domestic product.”
The vast majority of these intrusions targeted the federal government itself, followed by Australian state and territory governments. The health sector is also a major target, as are water supplies. This was most evident during a sustained
also makes clear that the government will use offensive cy- ber capabilities to disrupt attacks on critical infrastructure. There’s also support for SMEs on offer who may other- wise lack the resources to defend themselves, including
through a 24/7 helpdesk accessible through cyber.gov.au.
INDUSTRY
The use of more offensive cyber capabilities to disrupt attacks has been described as ‘active cyber defence’ and have been wielded by the UK as ‘a best practice model for Australia’. An example is the ‘Clean Pipes’ idea, which posits that internet service providers should deliver a default level of security to
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