Scott Morrison’s new cyber army to confront digital spy threat

Australia will launch an unprecedented cyber defence and intelligence warfare program with an army of 500 specialists.

Scott Morrison will announce a $1.35bn boost to cyber defences across the next decade on Tuesday. Picture: AAP

Australia will launch an unprecedented cyber defence and intelligence warfare program with an army of 500 newly trained specialists tasked with protecting the country from attack and hunting down spies.

After revealing earlier this month the country had come under a broadscale and sustained foreign-based cyber hack targeting all levels of government and critical infrastructure operators, Scott Morrison on Tuesday will announce a $1.35bn boost to cyber defences across the next decade.

Resources will be poured into the military cyber capabilities of the Australian Signals Directorate and Australian Cyber Security Centre amid a rapid escalation in malicious state-based cyber ­attacks. While the ASD’s intelligence capabilities are a closely held secret, the addition of 500 specialists, at a cost of $470m, will deliver a “massive” boost to the defence agency.

The announcement comes amid rising tensions between Canberra and Beijing over the level of foreign interference believed to be originating from China, which has also been cited as being responsible for the latest hack into Australian systems.

In 2016, Australia became one of the first Western powers to declare the use of “offensive” cyber capability. Known as the Cyber Enhanced Situational Awareness and Response (CESAR) package, it will form a centrepiece of the government’s 2020 Cyber Security Strategy, due to be released ahead of the October 6 budget.

The government claimed the new response would escalate the country’s ability to disrupt threats but also provide real-time intelligence to help businesses actively repel attacks. More than $100m is believed to be dedicated to new artificial intelligence technology to “neutralise” foreign cyber threats.

The ASD will also launch a “strategic mitigation” offensive to actively disrupt foreign actors targeting telecommunications infrastructure.

The cyber announcement comes ahead of a major defence and national security statement to be delivered on Wednesday by the Prime Minister and amid continued mass hacking attempts, which The Australian understands ­increased last week.

Mr Morrison said “malicious cyber activity against Australia is increasing in frequency, scale and sophistication”. “The federal government’s top priority is protecting our nation’s economy, national security and sovereignty. Malicious cyber activity undermines that,” he said.

“My government’s record investment in our nation’s cyber security will help ensure we have the tools and capabilities ... to fight back and keep Australians safe.”

Defence Minister Linda Reynolds said the $1.35bn investment would help ring-fence government agencies, sensitive infrastructure and private sector industry. “The package will put our nation on the front foot in combating cyber threats and our investment in a cyber security workforce will help ensure we have the people we need to meet future cyber challenges,” Senator Reynolds said.

“For example, this package will enable ASD and Australia’s major telecommunications providers to prevent malicious cyber activity from reaching millions of Australians by blocking known malicious websites and computer viruses at speed. This package is one part of our $15bn investment ... that will form part of Defence’s 2020 Force Structure Plan to address the rapidly evolving cyber threat landscape.”

The new 10-year program includes $31m to “enhance the ability of ASD to disrupt cyber crime offshore, taking the fight to foreign criminals that seek to target Australians, and providing assistance to federal, state and territory law enforcement agencies”.

A further $35m would be used to deliver a new cyber threat-sharing platform, enabling industry and government to share intelligence about malicious cyber activity, and block emerging threats in near-real time.

Mr Morrison this month pledged “significant investment” would be pumped into beefing up cyber security defences as part of the government’s updated 2020 Cyber Security Strategy.

The Cyber Security Strategy industry advisory panel, appointed by Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton late last year, is chaired by Telstra chief Andy Penn and includes former US secretary of homeland security Kirstjen Nielsen, Tesla chair Robyn Denholm and NBN chief security officer Darren Kane.

More than 210 submissions have been lodged with the Home Affairs Department in response to its strategy discussion paper, with universities, big banks, CSIRO, telcos and cyber industry leaders calling for enhanced co-operation. The cyber sector says the nation needs 17,000 extra security experts within five years to meet the growing demand of businesses, governments and individuals, and to combat the threats of state-based actors and criminal groups.