Senate repels email attacks

Suspicious emails to parliamentarians have plummeted, Senate estimates reveal.

Senate president Slade Brockman. Picture: AAP

Suspicious emails to parliamentarians have plummeted, Senate estimates reveal, but there are still about 40 emails a day considered “a threat” slipping through.

Email spoofing, phishing attacks and cybercrimes using the aph.gov.au email address has been a topic of concern for the Department of Parliamentary Services, according to Senate president Slade Brockman.

But since the implementation of a message authentication program over the past two months, DPS observed an 82 per cent reduction in email traffic attempting to impersonate the aph.gov.au domain.

Emails classified as threats were also dramatically cut from peaks of 240 a day, but Senator Brockman confirmed 40 emails were still getting through daily to parliamentarians and staff.

“This does highlight … the ongoing need to guard against cyber intrusions to protect the essential work of all parliamentarians,” he told Senate estimates. “This is a race that will never end and ongoing enhancements of cyber ­security remains a high priority.”