‘No indication’ NT Government was targeted in cyber attack

THE NT Government says there is no indication it has also been targeted in a ‘malicious’ large-scale foreign cyber attack on Australian government institutions

The NT Government says there is no indication it was also targeted in a ‘malicious’ large-scale foreign cyber attack on Australian government institutions

THE NT Government says there is no indication it has also been targeted in a ‘malicious’ large-scale foreign cyber attack on Australian government institutions.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says Australian government institutions and businesses in the private sector are currently the target of major cyber attacks by a sophisticated foreign “state-based” hacker.

A spokeswoman from NT Government told the NT News they were working with the Australian Cyber Security Centre and monitoring the government’s ICT network.

“There is no indication at this time of malicious cyber activity related to this campaign within our network,” she said.

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The Prime Minister held an urgent press conference this morning in Canberra to address the ongoing threat.

“This activity is targeting Australian organisations across a range of sectors, including all levels of government, industry, political organisations, education, health, essential service providers and operators of other critical infrastructure,” Mr Morrison told reporters.

“We know it is a sophisticated, state-based cyber actor because of the scale and nature of the targeting and the tradecraft used. Regrettably, this activity is not new. Frequency has been increasing.”

Mr Morrison said the Australian Cyber Security Centre has been “actively working with targeted organisations to ensure that they have appropriate technical mitigations in place and their defences are appropriately raised”.

“When and if we choose to do so is always done in the context of what we believe to be in our strategic national interests,” he said.

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“What I can confirm is there are not a large number of state-based actors that can engage in this type of activity and it is clear, based on the advice that we have received, that this has been done by a state-based actor, with very significant capabilities.”

Mr Morrison would not be drawn on whether China was behind the attack.

“I can only say what I have said,” he said.