The Australian Government has unveiled new world-class cyber and foreign intelligence agencies with the aim of strengthening the country’s defensive and offensive cyberwarfare capabilities.
Located in the capital city of Canberra, Majura Park, the facility will be home to a new generation of cyber operators and intelligence analysts working at the Australian Signal Authority (ASD), Australia’s cyber intelligence division.
Defense Minister Peter Dutton said ASD played a key role in protecting Australia’s critical infrastructure, such as energy and telecommunications, during times of increasing cyberattacks.
“This state-of-the-art building reflects the Australian Government’s determination to defend and confront adversaries in a rapidly deteriorating strategic environment,” Dutton said. Said..
“ASD is a world-class intelligence, offensive cyber and cyber security agency, and this new facility ensures that dedicated staff continue to innovate and stay one step ahead of the most cunning enemies.”
In anticipation of the growing importance of cyber to national security, the Australian Government has previously announced that it will offer fully paid training to help students quickly track their careers as cyber security specialists.
Dutton also reiterated Australia’s harsh attitude towards foreign countries seeking to engage in cyberwarfare, saying Australia is strengthening its ability to “counterattack as needed.”
ASD hopes that the Majura Park facility will enable stronger collaboration within the intelligence network of Five Eyes members (US, UK, Canada, New Zealand).
Deputy Defense Minister Andrew Hastie said digital threats from foreign governments pose a significant threat to Australia’s sovereignty.
“With conflicts around the world, authoritarian nations are increasingly using cyberattacks to undermine and threaten democracy. Strong ASDs are essential to Australia’s cyberdefense,” Hastie said. Mr. says.
In 2021, the Australian Cyber Security Center (ACSC), a division of ASD, witnessed a surge in cybercrime, with ACSC receiving reports on average once every eight minutes.
This includes attacks on governments, power plants, hospitals, food producers, telecommunications, media and educational institutions.
However, while some of these were independent attacks, others came directly from state-based attackers, such as Russia-linked SolarWinds attacks and China-linked Microsoft email server attacks.
Abigail Bradshaw, head of ACSC, was even more concerned about increasing reports of attacks on critical infrastructure.
“Threats to critical infrastructure are real,” Bradshaw said in October.
“We analyzed that at least a quarter of the recorded attacks were related to entities that were considered critical infrastructure. That’s horrifying statistics. We found that attack cases were significantly underreported. That makes it even more scary. “
Australia aims to improve its ability to detect cyberattacks through a new critical infrastructure bill aimed at requiring organizations to report incidents.
While receiving positive feedback from some industries, the proposal offends Big Tech as new legislation could allow governments to install their own cybersecurity software in Big Tech-managed data centers. I let you.
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Daniel Khmelev is a Perth-based Australian reporter working on energy, technology and politics. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, physics and computer science. Contact him at [email protected]