Cyber attacks on our sovereignty

Wielded by the expert operatives of malicious governments, cyber attacks are stealthier than most other forms of incursion into other nations’ sovereignty. They are also ruthlessly efficient and potentially just as lethal. Pushed to extremes, hostile nations with the capability to penetrate cyber networks could unleash an act of war by wreaking havoc with transport, health or telecommunications. Scott Morrison’s announcement on Friday morning — that Australian organisations across all levels of government, industry, politics, education, health, essential services and operators of critical infrastructure are under increasing cyber attack from “a sophisticated state-based cyber actor’’ — underlines the importance of governments, business and other organisations investing in robust technical defences. The Prime Minister had raised the issue, he said on Friday, to encourage governments and others to act to protect themselves. In doing so, they protect the public interest. Coming on top of the ravages of COVID-19 and the summer bushfires catastrophe, cyber security is shaping as a major challenge.

Peter Jennings, executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute and a former deputy secretary for strategy in the Defence Department, writes in Inquirer, you can “take it to the bank’’ that China was the “sophisticated state-based actor” mentioned by Mr Morrison. Mr Morrison has opted, for now, not to poke China in the eye by naming it: “There aren’t too many state-based actors who have those capabilities.’’ Or the malice or motivation to unleash them, he could have added. Naming China would not have prompted it to change its behaviour. And proving the claim was true would probably involve security matters better kept under wraps. But Mr Morrison has put China on notice, while denying it the opportunity for hostile comebacks.

Ramping up cyber attacks on Australian entities, which have been ongoing for months, is another form of state bullying in the mould of boycotts of Australian exports and discouraging Chinese students and tourists from venturing to Australia. China has form on cyber attacks on Australia. It has been blamed in recent years for cyber attacks on the federal parliament, the Liberal, Labor and National parties, and the Australian National University. Such attacks provide the means for stealing intellectual property, gathering intelligence on government and political secrets. In the new Cold War, a computer can effectively do the work of 100 human spies, Simon Benson writes.

The revelation of the attacks on Friday confirmed the importance of the new national security test to apply to all foreign investment bids for sensitive assets, such as infrastructure and defence suppliers. These were announced by Josh Frydenberg earlier this month and were driven by the government’s assessment of greater national ­security risks arising from cyber threats and the deterioration of the global strategic situation.

The Australian Cyber Security Centre has warned companies, institutions and governments to be alert and urgently enhance the resilience of their networks. The centre, the Australian Signals Directorate and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation are working with the private sector and state governments to thwart the ongoing attacks. More broadly, the problem is one for members of the Five Eyes alliance — Australia, the US, Britain, Canada and New Zealand — and other multilateral bodies to tackle.

A few months ago, former intelligence analyst Paul Monk wrote in this newspaper about an Information Warfare conference in Canberra late last year, part of which was conducted under the Chatham House rule and part of which was classified. What emerged was that the technological revolution in information sciences has become the most challenging arena of military strategy and national security. In a sphere where technical ability and intelligence matter more than might and size, Australia has the expertise to excel in protecting our interests.