Labor commits $587m to bolster cyber defences

Anthony Albanese will pump an additional $587m into protecting businesses, governments and critical infrastructure from cyber attacks launched by state-sponsored hackers and criminals.

Home Affairs and Cyber Security Minister Clare O'Neil will release the Albanese government’s national cyber security strategy on Wednesday in Sydney. Picture: Martin Ollman / NCA NewsWire

Anthony Albanese will pump an additional $587m into strengthening Australia’s cyber defences to protect businesses, governments and critical infrastructure from ransomware and attacks by state-sponsored hackers and crime gangs.

The funding boost underwrites the government’s seven-year cyber security strategy, the first major salvo in a series of announcements expected in coming weeks to get the government back to business after a tough political period following the voice referendum failure.

The Australian can reveal the Prime Minister, who convened a cabinet meeting in Canberra on Monday, will rally his senior troops at a gathering of all ministers in Sydney following the launch of the cyber strategy on Wednesday.

Home Affairs and Cyber Security Minister Clare O’Neil said the government funding was on top of Labor’s commitment to maintain $2.3bn in existing ­Coalition-era cyber-related initiatives delivered by the Australian Signals Directorate.

Ahead of releasing the strategy without Mr Albanese, who is delivering a speech in Melbourne on Wednesday morning, Ms O’Neil said “we need to act now to defend Australia from cyber threats”.

The ASD cyber threat report, released last week, revealed almost 94,000 reports were made to law enforcement agencies through ReportCyber in 2022-23, a rate of one report every six minutes. China was identified as a major backer of cyber attacks targeting Australian critical infrastructure and companies.

The 59-page strategy includes a $291m package supporting small and medium businesses, $144m to strengthen critical infrastructure and enhance government cyber security, $130m for regional and global cyber resilience and $9.4m to build a threat-sharing platform across the health sector.

Labor’s cyber security blueprint – Australia’s third strategy in seven years – is anchored by six cyber shields including “strong business and citizens, safe technology, world-class threat sharing and blocking, protected critical infrastructure, sovereign capabilities and resilient region and global leadership”.

Ms O’Neil, who will convene a meeting of the Cyber Executive Council following the strategy launch, said executing the strategy would require “close collaboration between government and industry”.

“Our strategy will make every Australian citizen, business, government agency and organisation a harder target. It will enable us to bounce back faster from attacks that we cannot prevent. We will put cyber criminals on notice, and we will fight back against the threat,” she said.

“Australia is a wealthy country and a fast adopter of new technologies, which makes us an attractive target for cyber criminals. Millions of Australians have had their data stolen and released online in the past year.

“Cyber also presents major opportunities for Australia – the global cyber industry is growing rapidly, and it is here to stay. That’s why cyber security must be an urgent national priority.

“When our government came to office, Australia was in a cyber slumber. We were lagging behind our trading partners and allies, and Australian citizens and businesses were left exposed.”

The strategy reaffirms the government’s commitment to help grow Australia’s cyber security workforce, with severe labour shortages reported across the $2bn sector, and responds to threats and benefits presented by the rise of artificial intelligence and machine learning.

The cyber security strategy release was thrown into disarray last week after Air Marshal Darren Goldie – appointed as the inaugural national cyber security co-ordinator by the Prime Minister and Ms O’Neil in June – stepped aside over a workplace complaint. Air Marshal Goldie’s sudden departure shocked senior industry figures who had worked closely with him in the lead-up to the strategy’s release.

After reporting last year that the Albanese government was tearing up Scott Morrison’s 2020 cyber strategy, The Australian in the past week has revealed companies will be forced to report cyber ransom demands under Australia’s first mandatory no-fault reporting system but will not be banned from paying criminal gangs and state-sponsored offenders. The new regime follows the suspected ransomware attack on DP World Australia, which operates 40 per cent of the nation’s maritime freight.

The Weekend Australian revealed businesses reporting cyber attacks will be afforded new legal protections and have red tape slashed when liaising with government regulators. New legislation providing a “legal safe harbour” will include provisions limiting how information shared with the ASD and national cyber co-ordinator can be used by other government entities, including regulators.

A Cyber Incident Review Board, based on the US Cyber Safety Review Board and Australian Transport Safety Bureau, will be set up to run no-fault, post-incident investigations to probe major cyber attacks.