Prime Minister Scott Morrison blasts Russia over cyber attacks
SCOTT Morrison has condemned Russia for orchestrating a series of malicious cyber attacks, saying Moscow has shown a “total disregard” for international law.
SCOTT Morrison has condemned Russia for orchestrating a series of malicious cyber attacks, saying “cyberspace is not the Wild West” and Moscow has shown a “total disregard” for international law.
In an extraordinary rebuke this morning, the Australian Prime Minister joined other world leaders in naming and shaming Russia and its intelligence agency ‘the GRU’ for a series of attacks on “political, business, media and sporting institutions worldwide”.
They include 2016 hacks on the World Anti-Doping Agency, the US Democratic National Committee, 2015 attacks on a UK-based television station, and a 2017 ransomware attack on its own citizens and victims in Ukraine.
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In the October 2017 attack, Russian hackers infected victims in Ukraine and Russia with BadRabbit ransomware, interrupting businesses and critical national infrastructure, including energy and transport sectors, the Australian Government says.
“Based on advice from Australian intelligence agencies, and in consultation with our partners and allies, the Australian Government has determined that the Russian military, and their intelligence arm ‘the GRU’, is responsible for this pattern of malicious cyber activity,” Prime Minister Morrison said in a statement today.
“While Australia was not significantly impacted, this activity affected the ability of the public in other parts of the world to go about their daily lives.
“It caused significant, indiscriminate harm to civilian infrastructure and resulted in millions of dollars in economic damage, including in Russia.
“This is unacceptable and the Australian Government calls on all countries, including Russia, to refrain from these types of malicious activities.
“Cyberspace is not the Wild West. The International Community — including Russia — has agreed that international law and norms of responsible state behaviour apply in cyberspace.
“By embarking on a pattern of malicious cyber behaviour, Russia has shown a total disregard for the agreements it helped to negotiate.”
Mr Morrison said there must be consequences for the breaches, adding that the “first step” was calling out the malicious behaviour publicly.
“Our message is clear: the rule of law applies online, just as it does offline. We will protect the rules-based international order online, just as we do offline,” he said.
Mr Morrison also encouraged all Australian organisations to review the Australian Cyber Safety Centre’s website for measures they can take to protect against attacks.
Originally published as Prime Minister Scott Morrison blasts Russia over cyber attacks