Diplomatic tensions are being used as a cover for an increase in cyber attacks, according to cyber security executives, with calls to separate the challenge of protecting computer networks from being viewed wholly through a national security perspective.

Addressing The Australian Financial Review Future Briefings webcast, the former chief executive of the Australian National University's Cyber Security Institute, Professor Lesley Seebeck, also praised the government for announcing when a nation-state was behind cyber attacks, although it was not without risk.