Budget 2021: $1.3bn puts ASIO on front foot in cyber war

Australia’s national security agency will receive a massive funding injection as global cyber warfare heats up.

Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews.

ASIO will receive a massive $1.3bn funding boost over the next decade to respond to unprecedented espionage and foreign interference threats.

The investment includes $945m to develop new techno­logically capabilities, allowing the domestic spy agency to improve the scale and speed of its investigations and exploit new opportunities for cyber-enabled operations.

It also locks in an extra $305m over the next decade to run ASIO’s new hi-tech headquarters in Canberra.

Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews said the new funding — which includes an additional $413m over the next four years — was one of the nation’s biggest ­investments ever in tackling complex security threats.

“This unprecedented, long-term investment in our nation’s ­security will give ASIO the certainty it needs to develop its capabilities and workforce over the next decade,” she said.

“Coming on top of already record funding for ASIO, this funding boost will ensure ASIO can significantly enhance its capability to identify and respond to threats.

“It will also enable ASIO to respond to challenges posed by rapid technological change, particularly through leveraging the Australian technology industry.”

The investment comes as experts warn of increasing high-­profile attacks against Australia’s critical infrastructure. This week, US fuel infrastructure was hit with a ­ransomware attack, prompting the closure of the nation's main fuel pipeline carrying about 2.5 million barrels of oil.

NSW Labor was attacked on the weekend, while the Nine Network was recently knocked offline due to a major attack thought to be the work of a state actor.

Those in the cyber industry have warned such attacks will only increase in frequency and complexity, heaping pressure on Australia and its Five Eyes intelligence allies to ramp up their defences. And in a boost to the future generation of cyber sleuths, the government has allocated $66.4m over six years to increase Australia’s cyber skills, including a $43.8m ­expansion of the Cyber Security Skills Partnership Innovation Fund and $22.6m for 234 scholarships in emerging technologies.

The government has also committed $18.8m to build three cyber hubs, to be operated by Service Australia alongside Defence and Home Affairs, in a bid to better centralise the defence network.

“It’s pleasing to see the government’s continued acknowledgment of the importance of cyber security with this multi-­million-dollar allocation in the budget,” the local managing director of cyber security firm Sophos, John Donovan, told The Australian.

“As we have seen with the prominence of cyber attacks in recent months, there’s a need for Australia to focus on cyber security … as cyber criminals increase the frequency and potency of their attacks. This is a good starting point. However, we must continue to move forward to address this as a nation.”

The budget also boosts the protection of critical infrastructure, with an extra $42.4m for helping ports, energy plants and other key facilities respond to cyber attacks.

An extra $464m will be spent increasing the capacity of immigration detention facilities onshore and at Christmas Island, which have been under pressure due to the difficulty in deporting non-citizens during the pandemic.

In his annual threat assessment in March this year, ASIO director-general Mike Burgess warned that foreign spies were “constantly seeking to penetrate government, defence, academia and business to steal classified information, military capabilities, policy plans and sensitive research”.

“They are intimidating members of diaspora communities and seeking to interfere in our democratic institutions,” he said.

“Over the past three years, ASIO has seen espionage and foreign interference attempts against all levels of Australian politics, and in every state and territory.”