Government cracks down on COVID hackers

Australia has called on foreign governments to immediately cease support for malicious cyber activity, following an increase in COVID-related attacks.

Australia’s Ambassador for Cyber Affairs Dr Tobias Feakin. GARY SHIPWAY

Australia’s leading cyber official has called on foreign governments to immediately cease malicious cyber activity, amid warnings hackers are seeking to exploit the coronavirus pandemic for their own gain.

Ambassador for Cyber Affairs Tobias Feakin said the federal government was urging all countries to exercise increased vigilance and take measures to ensure malicious cyber activity was not emanating from their shores, following reports of cyber attacks on hospitals overseas.

Dr Feakin said countries had agreed to co-operate to address cybercrime and not to knowingly allow their territory to be used for internationally wrongful acts.

“The Australian government calls on all countries to cease immediately any cyber activity – or support for such activity – inconsistent with these commitments," Dr Feakin said.

"We also urge all countries to exercise increased vigilance and take all reasonable measures to ensure malicious cyber activity is not emanating from their territory."

It comes as the Australian Cyber Security Centre on Wednesday published a technical advisory outlining the most common tactics, techniques and procedures used by criminal and state-based malicious cyber actors to target Australian networks over the last 18 months.

Department of Home Affairs secretary Mike Pezzullo last month revealed Australia’s hospitals and medical data had been targeted by “a number of malicious actors” ­during the pandemic.

Mr Pezzullo declined to confirm if the hackers were state actors such as China or Russia, or say where they were located, but said health services had been threatened.

“There are a number of ­malicious actors operating against our networks, including specifically, to be clear, in health services, hospitals, medical data, trying to access sensitive research. So quite COVID-particular,” he told the Senate’s COVID-19 committee.

ACSC head Abigail Bradshaw said this latest advisory would help organisations identify and mitigate some of the most common techniques used to compromise Australian systems.

“The ACSC is on the front line of our defence against malicious cyber activity, and this advisory is informed by a range of incidents we have observed and responded to," she said. "The tradecraft used by malicious adversaries ranges from the simple to the very sophisticated."

Dr Feakin said Australia has already registered its concern about international malicious cyber activity at the United Nations.