• Advertise
  • About us
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Contact us
Monday, June 16, 2025
Australian Times News
  • News
    • Weather
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Business & Finance
      • Currency Zone
    • Lotto Results
      • The Lott
  • Lifestyle
    • Entertainment
    • Horoscopes
    • Health & Wellness
    • Recipes
  • Travel
  • Expat Life
  • Move to Australia
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Weather
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Business & Finance
      • Currency Zone
    • Lotto Results
      • The Lott
  • Lifestyle
    • Entertainment
    • Horoscopes
    • Health & Wellness
    • Recipes
  • Travel
  • Expat Life
  • Move to Australia
No Result
View All Result
Australian Times News
No Result
View All Result
Home at

Australia under cyber-attack from foreign powers: security chief

A senior member of the Australian intelligence community, Major General Stephen Day, has claimed that around 80 per cent of malicious cyber-attacks that occur in Australia are sponsored by foreign powers attempting to exploit weaknesses in the country’s security systems.

Paul Bleakley by Paul Bleakley
12-06-2013 10:20
in at
Woman in computer lab

Woman in computer lab

A SENIOR member of the Australian intelligence community has claimed that around 80 per cent of malicious cyber-attacks that occur in Australia are sponsored by foreign powers attempting to exploit weaknesses in the country’s security systems.

Major General Stephen Day, deputy director of cyber and information security at the Australian Signals Directorate, said that Australia faced dozens of cyber-attacks every week, with the total number of incidents on the increase. He said that there had been 789 cyber-attacks on Australia already this year, with it likely that many more had gone undetected or unreported.

Major General Day said: “The cyber threat is real. It has real consequences, it is persistent, it is here now. We are in a daily struggle against malicious cyber threats.”

The Australian Signals Directorate — formerly known as the Defence Signals Directorate – is primarily responsible for the interception of electronic communications. In recent years the top secret organisation has assumed greater responsibility for ensuring Australia’s cyber-security and maintaining the integrity of government systems.

Around 1800 cyber incidents were dealt with by the Australian Signals Directorate last year, with a rise of over 500 attacks reported from the 1259 that were discovered in 2011. Major General Day said that many cyber-attacks targeted defence and national security bodies in an attempt to discover vulnerable information and gain access to critical tactical intelligence.

Major General Day said: “Once they do that, the preponderance of targeting is aimed at commercial information. We judge that 65 per cent of all cyber intrusions we see in CSOC have an economic focus. If you are involved also in defence industry, then you are one of the key target groups for state-sponsored cyber espionage.”

AlsoRead...

Gluten Free Hamper

Why a Gluten Free Hamper is simply the Best Gift for a Coeliac

22 May 2025
Premier-Leagues-Fifth-Champions-League-Janosch-Diggelmann-Unsplash

The Battle for the Premier League’s Fifth Champions League Spot: Who Will Prevail?

8 May 2025

The senior intelligence officer did not identify where the biggest threats to Australian cyber-security were coming from, however American strategist William Hagestad told the Australian Defence Magazine conference in Canberra that nations like China posed significant challenges to Australia’s national interest.

Mr Hagestad said: “The threat by China is bad and it’s going to get worse. Australia needs to develop offensive cyber capabilities in order to defend yourselves.”

Vice president of security organisation Northrop Grumman, Jim Myers, told the summit that Australia faced significant threats to its technological infrastructure and urged the government to take action to ensure that the country’s systems were protected. He said that defence organisations would have to work in collaboration with industry partners to develop a full-spectrum approach that would prevent any vulnerability in the system.

Mr Myers said: “Australian national defence, and the defence industry, face a wide range of threats from agile and capable adversaries. These adversaries take advantage of the expanding complexity of the information and communications technology infrastructure. Protecting deployed networks and strategic information systems against sophisticated cyber threats requires new solutions, which include security as a core requirement of the design and which go beyond the capabilities of most commercially available products.”

Prime Minister Julia Gillard recently announced the foundation of a new $1.46 billion Australian Cyber Security Centre, which will become operational in late 2013. The centre will act as a hub for the country’s security agencies with the goal of streamlining Australia’s defence against technological attack.

Tags: cybersecurityespionageintelligenceJulia Gillardnational security
DMCA.com Protection Status

SUBSCRIBE to our NEWSLETTER

[mc4wp_form id=”2384248″]

Don't Miss

Leading with Trust: Why Quality still wins in the AI Era

by Pauline Torongo
5 June 2025
Leading with Trust: Why Quality still wins in the AI Era
Business & Finance

If you're leading a software team today, you've likely noticed the shift: faster feature rollouts, routine automation, and AI taking...

Read more

How to Save on Airport Parking: Budget Tips Every Traveller Should Know

by Fazila Olla-Logday
3 June 2025
How to Save on Airport Parking
Travel

Saving money on airport parking can be a challenge,but here are some budget friendly tips to help you navigate.

Read more

Why Australian Investors are Betting on the Aviation Maverick Louis Belanger-Martin

by Pauline Torongo
28 May 2025
Why Australian Investors are Betting on the Aviation Maverick Louis Belanger-Martin
Business & Finance

Bélanger-Martin’s ambitions stretch beyond redefining inflight comfort—they’re rooted in resurrecting the romance of supersonic travel with a modern twist.

Read more

Why a Gluten Free Hamper is simply the Best Gift for a Coeliac

by Fazila Olla-Logday
22 May 2025
Gluten Free Hamper
at

Buying a thoughtful gift can be tricky at the best of times, but when someone has dietary restrictions like coeliac...

Read more

Biela.dev is quietly becoming the Infrastructure Layer for the Next Internet

by Pauline Torongo
15 May 2025
Biela.dev is quietly becoming the Infrastructure Layer for the Next Internet
Technology

Biela.dev is not merely a consumer app; it is infrastructure. It could be a layer that powers the next generation...

Read more

The Battle for the Premier League’s Fifth Champions League Spot: Who Will Prevail?

by Fazila Olla-Logday
8 May 2025
Premier-Leagues-Fifth-Champions-League-Janosch-Diggelmann-Unsplash
at

As the Premier League season nears its climax, the race for the coveted Champions League places is tighter and more...

Read more

The Predictive Infrastructure: How BOF’s Neuro Finance System Reengineers Market Forecasting

by Pauline Torongo
5 May 2025
The Predictive Infrastructure: How BOF’s Neuro Finance System Reengineers Market Forecasting
Business & Finance

As global markets become more complex and volatile, BOF Investments has developed Neuro Finance, a predictive system that combines machine...

Read more
Load More

Copyright © Blue Sky Publications Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
australiantimes.co.uk is a division of Blue Sky Publications Ltd. Reproduction without permission prohibited. DMCA.com Protection Status

  • About us
  • Write for Us
  • Advertise
  • Contact us
  • T&Cs, Privacy and GDPR
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Weather
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Business & Finance
      • Currency Zone
    • Lotto Results
      • The Lott
  • Lifestyle
    • Entertainment
    • Horoscopes
    • Health & Wellness
    • Recipes
  • Travel
  • Expat Life
  • Move to Australia

Copyright © Blue Sky Publications Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
australiantimes.co.uk is a division of Blue Sky Publications Ltd. Reproduction without permission prohibited. DMCA.com Protection Status