Cyber Attacks on Australia are Increasing Day by Day - Report

News.xinhuanet.com published news on 29th July, 2015 stating that leading spy agencies of Australia recently warned announcing that the number of cyber security threats in Australia is increasing day by day.

The Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) working with Australia's chief covert agency Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) and the Federal Police, revealed in its first random report that more than 11,000 cyber security incidents impacted Australian businesses in 2014.

The agency said in its report that more than 150 incidents involved serious infrastructure and others connected with national security.

Banking and financial services, energy, defense, communications and transport were identified as the top five industries assisted by CERT Australia regarding cyber security incidents in 2014.

The robbery of intellectual property or commercially sensitive information online was recognized as one of the biggest issues for businesses with extreme implications like damaged reputations, less business opportunities, profitability and competitiveness and weak business models.

The report acknowledged future trends in the activity of cyber crime which includes an increase in the number of cyber security criminals with higher capabilities, a rise in "spear phishing', ransomware and other cybercrime along with the increased use of sophisticated software, online defacements and headline-grabbing social media capturing.

The report also revealed that several sectors have still not invested heavily in cyber security and businesses may be hesitant to report such incidents.

Smartcompany.com.au published news on 29th July, 2015 quoting Clive Lines, Co-Ordinator of ACSC, as saying "Cyber threat to Australian enterprises is growing but the report could serve as a resource for businesses."

Abc.net.au published news on 29th July, 2015 quoting ACSC as saying "We saw 'daily' cyber espionage activity aiming Australian Government networks but 'Australia has not yet been subjected to any activities which could be considered as a cyber attack."

It added: "Destructive cyber attacks could be considered comparable to an armed attack and thus, it becomes an act of war."

The center said that to fight these threats outlined in this report and to mitigate the risk of hijack, organisations now must move to implement cyber security actions to make Australia a tough target, increase the self-assurance of Australian citizens when they are online and maximize the advantages of the Internet for Australian business houses.

» SPAMfighter News - 8/7/2015