Technology
The leader of Australia says an unspecified state increases cyber attacks
(AP) The Prime Minister said on Friday that Australia was "a sophisticated state-based cyberspace actor" in an growing cyber war targeting all governments , businesses, vital services and critical infrastructure.
In view of the inevitable speculation that cyber attacks were part of Australia's increasingly hostile rift with China, Premier Scott Morrison would not name the state.
Morrison said he publicly raised the awareness and wanted to raise awareness of the increasing threat to health, critical infrastructure and essential services.
A number of industries were targeted and cyber intrusions to rob and harm have been more frequent for months, he said. He said.
"These are the actions of an important State-owned actor. There are not many actors based in the state who have the capacity to do so, "said Morrison.
The Australian Strategic Policy Institute's Executive Director Peter Jennings said only China was able and concerned to launch such a massive cyber offensive to Australia.
Jennings said, "I'm completely sure China is behind it.
Speaker Zhao Lijian, Chinese Foreign Minister, rejected such allegations and stated that China had 'opposed and fought cyber attacks of every kind.'
"It is entirely unfounded nonsense to attack the Institute against China," Zhao announced in Friday's daily briefing.
China has prohibited beef exports from the biggest abattoirs of Australia in the last weeks, stopped Australian barley trade with a tariff wall. These measures are widely understood to punish Australia's advocates for an independent test of the origins and spread of the pandemic of coronavirus.
Australia's Minister of Foreign Affairs this week has charged China with using the pandemic fear to disrupt Western democracy by spreading misinformation online, prompting China to threaten Australia with misinformation.
Morrison said "It's not easier for Australia to participate in public awareness," but said he couldn't monitor speculation as to who was responsible for the cyber initiative.
He offered no detail on his activities and said it was difficult to understand whether the intrusions were motivated by the desires of ordinary Australians to steal secrets from government, intellectual property or personal information.
To date, the Australian inquiries have not found "major infringements of personal data," said Morrison. And he said there were many intrusions thwarted.
Defense Secretary Linda Reynolds has advised the Australian Information Security Center and Interior Ministry of the government how organizations should detect and reduce cyber threats through a public technical advisory.
Last month, the cyber agency warned that 'malicious cyber adversaries' used key staff from the pandemic's critical infrastructure.
Subject to risks were both power and water networks, and transport and communications networks.
"The attempts to jeopardize the critical infrastructure in Australia are ongoing," said Agency Chief Abigail Bradshaw.
'It's reprehensible that cybercriminals try, during a major health crisis, to interrupt or carry out ranch attacks on our critical services,' she added.
The agency also reported that "malicious cyber actors" were trying "to harm or threaten" hospitals and emergency services abroad.
Brawery giant Lion from Sydney said it was still recovering from a ransomware attack last week, on Friday.
"The Ransomware Attack that caused a partial IT outage last week is being investigated by Lion and our expert cyber team," a company statement said.
"The attack has affected our operations. We are still making beer and producing our dairy and beverage brands, and we have succeeded in maintaining the supply of products to many of our customers," she said. "It is important to reinforce.
Source: Associated Press
