New technology vital to security

Monday’s signing of a new treaty with the US and Britain, formalising access to the ­allies’ nuclear submarine ­secrets, underlines the importance of state-of-the-art technology in defending the nation’s strategic security. The agreement, which is part of the AUKUS pact, will allow Australian defence personnel to undergo training in the US and Britain on how to build, operate and support ­nuclear-powered submarines, Defence Minister Peter Dutton told The Australian.

This week, the government will also introduce legislation to protect critical infrastructure from cyber attacks, allowing the Australian Signals Directorate to step in to protect vital networks in the event of major attacks on electricity, water and communications networks. Financial services, food and grocery businesses, the defence and space sectors, higher education and data storage networks would also receive protection. As Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews told Ben Packham, Australia was not immune from attacks such as that on the Colonial Pipeline in the US, its largest oil pipeline in May. Australia had seen cyber attacks on federal parliamentary networks, logistics companies, small businesses, hospitals, utilities, schools and universities in the past two years.

Former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe also emphasised the importance of technology in defence on Friday when he told the closing session of the Sydney Dialogue that Japan should co-operate with AUKUS in such areas as cyber capabilities, artificial intelligence and quantum technologies. As Mr Abe, a driving force in founding the Quad alliance of the US, Australia, Japan and India, said, the Quad’s strategic interests and those of the AUKUS pact coincide. This applies in the technological advances that will boost Indo-Pacific security in the face of Chinese aggression. Japan’s technological expertise could be harnessed by its allies as a useful deterrent to Chinese militarism. This is especially the case at a time when Japan’s new government, led by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, has announced it is doubling its defence spending. Cyberspace has become a battlefield; advanced computing technology has become a weapon.