Telstra boss Andy Penn warns of cyber security threat from AI and supercomputers

Telstra chief executive Andy Penn has issued a stern warning about the rise of supercomputers and artificial intelligence.

Telstra chief executive officer Andy Penn. Picture: AAP

Telstra chief executive Andy Penn has issued a stern warning about the rise of supercomputers and artificial intelligence, saying they pose one of the most serious threats to the nation’s long-term cyber security.

The resilience of the country’s digital infrastructure has become a critical focus for the Morrison government with Australian companies increasingly coming under ransomware attacks from cyber criminals and, at times, sophisticated state-based actors.

The inaugural chairman of the federal government’s Cyber Security Industry Advisory Committee, Mr Penn, said the country was facing an unprecedented threat from cyber criminals, but warned the digital landscape was continuing to evolve and increase in sophistication.

“Because more abundant and better resourced cyber criminals, cyber activists, and increasingly involved in nation-state actors, means that Australia and Australians are quite literally under constant cyber attack,” Mr Penn told the National Press Club on Thursday.

“Meeting this challenge means that our cyber defences have to be strong.”

With increasingly powerful supercomputers likely to develop the capacity to crack encryption codes and keys currently used to protect data, including financial data, Mr Penn said the country had five to 15 years to plan for the rise, but warned the issue needed to be given “careful consideration” immediately.

“We need to have an eye on the role of supercomputing advanced algorithms and artificial intelligence. I believe this is one of the most significant threats in the longer term,” Mr Penn said.

“They will provide great benefits economically, medically and technologically, but we also need to fully understand the level of disruption they may be bringing and may be able to challenge the cryptographic algorithms that we currently use.

“The challenge is simple: create more powerful computers, such as quantum computers, crack the encryption codes and keys that we currently use to protect sensitive data.”

After research revealed cyber crime was costing the Australian economy about $3.5bn per annum, Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews had declared the country could not allow cyber criminal activity to become a “significant handbrake on our economic growth and digital security”, and posited company directors could be held personally responsible for cyber attacks.

Mr Penn conceded that in “egregious” cases, there should be “some degree” of legal liability for company directors, but said it should be reserved for situations where there had been “complete negligence towards ensuring that there are some basic cyber defences in place”.

He also supported the government’s proposed Bill which would enable the nation’s digital security agencies to intervene in private firms networks in the case of significant cyber attacks.

“I don’t think we would think twice about the Australian air force being deployed to go and protect (Australian) infrastructure …,” Mr Penn said.

“We obviously need a mechanism whereby the government and government agencies which are skilled in cyber defences and cyber warfare, to be able to work alongside operators of critical infrastructure to enable them to protect the national interest and protect national security.”