South Australia government victim of thousands of sensitive security breaches every year

A crack squad of workers has intercepted over 12,000 malicious attacks on key state infrastructure, it can be revealed.

Cyber criminals are attacking South Australia’s critical databases at unprecedented rates as authorities wage war on hackers, organised crime gangs, terrorists and rogue nations.

Official figures show public servants receive more than six million potentially dangerous emails a month – almost 200,000 a day – trying to steal financial and personal details.

State government investigations into serious attacks or threats as well as breaches has tripled in six years.

A crack “watch desk” team, from the Department of Premier and Cabinet’s Cyber Security Directorate, successfully blocked more than 12,500 cyber attacks over the past financial year.

Inquiries into highly sensitive breaches increased from 1282 in 2017/18 to 3780 in 2022/23.

But breaches reduced from a 5834 high two years ago after authorities developed “more sophisticated tools and automation” and email became a key focus.

The nation’s cyber spy agency, the Australian Signals Directorate, last year recorded at least 5640 cyber attacks in SA in 2022-2023 that also involved threats outside government.

Authorities refused to discuss who was behind attacks, including specific countries, over national security fears.

Government officials said investigations include data breaches but, based on advice from security and spy agencies, “specific details are not divulged to reduce or remove the provision of unnecessary information or motivation for attackers”.

Hackers are causing increasing havoc for governments and private organisations.

But senior government sources say state and federal authorities “continue to see malicious cyber activity targeting Australia and (our) interests from multiple state and non-state actors”.

Cyber fraud and theft costs the Australian economy costs an estimated $29bn a year.

Last year at least 14,000 Super SA clients fell victim to a major cyber breach that left sensitive details accessible on the “dark web”.

A joint Australian Federal Police investigation with Malaysian authorities and America’s FBI arrested eight suspects in November over an international criminal syndicate’s phishing kits targeting Australian government websites including mygov.

The ASD also warned in December about Russian hackers while intelligence officials have also expressed concern about China, Iran and North Korea’s web-based espionage.

South Australia's chief information security officer Will Luker. Picture: Department of the Premier and Cabinet

SA’s chief information security officer Will Luker said the “frequency and impact of cyber incidents has risen substantially, and cyber threats are now one of the greatest challenges facing governments, businesses, and individuals”.

“Like many regions globally, South Australia has not been immune to the increasing prevalence and impact of cyber threats,” he said.

“Government agencies, critical infrastructure, businesses, and individuals within the state have all been targeted by cyber security incidents and hazards.

“Cyber-attacks and breaches can manifest in different forms and these incidents can result in financial losses, service disruptions, compromised sensitive information, and reputational damage.”

He said the government had developed “robust cyber security frameworks, policies, and strategies”.