Australia says state-sponsored attacks from China, Russia and Iran made cyberspace a ‘battleground’

The Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) received 76,000 cybercrime reports last financial year, up 13 per cent from the previous period

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the jump in cyberattacks a ‘huge wake-up call’ and urged the private sector do better

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Australia saw a significant rise in cybercrime last financial year. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 10:20am, 4 Nov 2022

Cyberattacks against Australia from criminals and state-sponsored groups jumped last financial year, with a government report released on Friday equating the assault to one attack every seven minutes.

The Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) received 76,000 cybercrime reports last financial year, up 13 per cent from the previous period, according to its latest annual cyber threat report.

While just over half of attacks targeted individuals for fraud and theft, the report warned that state-sponsored attackers made cyberspace a “battleground” and cited attacks from China’s Ministry of State Security, Iran and Russian state-linked groups.

Multiple attacks against Australian essential services were thwarted over the period, including a November 2021 attack on government-owned utility CS Energy, responsible for a tenth of the nation’s electricity output.

“It’s a huge wake-up call and companies need to get their act together … we need to do much better,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said at a news conference on Friday.