2 years ago
MORRISON MUST PROTECT AUSSIE JOBS
SENATOR KRISTINA KENEALLY
Mr Morrison must take a comprehensive plan to tackling ransomware to the G7 if Australia is to be taken seriously on the biggest cyber threat facing G7 members.
Ransomware is a jobs and investment destroyer, costing Australia alone around $1 billion a year.
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has said he’d like to see an ‘action plan’ on ransomware out of the meeting. But despite an onslaught of attacks on Australian businesses in the past 12 months and repeated calls from Labor, the Morrison Government still doesn’t have a National Ransomware Strategy.
Instead the Morrison Government continues to blame the victims and is leaving these Australian businesses behind by forcing them to fight these highly sophisticated and increasingly aggressive criminals alone.
In contrast, the United States is now treating ransomware with a similar priority level to terrorism and has established a dedicated taskforce within the Department of Justice. FBI Director Christopher Wray last week compared the latest wave of ransomware attacks to 9/11.
Ransomware is out of control, with a spate of recent attacks including JBS Foods, Australia’s largest meat producer. But still the Morrison Government won’t act.
We learnt at Senate Estimates it hasn’t deployed its considerable offensive cyber capabilities against the criminals who attacked the Nine Network or the hospital networks in Victoria and QLD, despite a lot of tough talk from the Defence Minister.
Mr Morrison has a seat at the table with the world’s biggest powers at the G7. It’s time he brings more than political rhetoric to that table by outlining a comprehensive plan and following it up with action against this serious threat facing Australia and the world.
Ransomware is a jobs and investment destroyer, costing Australia alone around $1 billion a year.
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has said he’d like to see an ‘action plan’ on ransomware out of the meeting. But despite an onslaught of attacks on Australian businesses in the past 12 months and repeated calls from Labor, the Morrison Government still doesn’t have a National Ransomware Strategy.
Instead the Morrison Government continues to blame the victims and is leaving these Australian businesses behind by forcing them to fight these highly sophisticated and increasingly aggressive criminals alone.
In contrast, the United States is now treating ransomware with a similar priority level to terrorism and has established a dedicated taskforce within the Department of Justice. FBI Director Christopher Wray last week compared the latest wave of ransomware attacks to 9/11.
Ransomware is out of control, with a spate of recent attacks including JBS Foods, Australia’s largest meat producer. But still the Morrison Government won’t act.
We learnt at Senate Estimates it hasn’t deployed its considerable offensive cyber capabilities against the criminals who attacked the Nine Network or the hospital networks in Victoria and QLD, despite a lot of tough talk from the Defence Minister.
Mr Morrison has a seat at the table with the world’s biggest powers at the G7. It’s time he brings more than political rhetoric to that table by outlining a comprehensive plan and following it up with action against this serious threat facing Australia and the world.