Huge cyber attack is aimed at the Australian government 

A foreign government has launched a series of cyber attacks aimed at the Australian government and Aussie companies. 

Prime Minister Scott Morrison today said a ‘sophisticated state-based’ actor was behind ongoing attacks on political parties, universities and the private sector including companies working on critical infrastructure.

The attacks have been happening for ‘many months’ but have been increasing recently, prompting Mr Morrison to warn the nation.

The Prime Minister did not say which government he suspected – but said there are ‘not a large number’ of countries who can carry out such large-scale attacks. 

Last year Australian intelligence determined China was responsible for a cyber-attack on the federal parliament and three largest political parties before the general election in May. 

The Prime Minster said investigations so far have not found any personal data has been leaked. 

‘Australian organisations are currently being targeted by a sophisticated State-based cyber actor,’ he said. 

‘This activity is targeting Australian organisations across a range of sectors, including all levels of Government, industry, political organisations, education, health, essential service providers and operators of other critical infrastructure. 

‘We know it is a sophisticated State-based cyber actor because of the scale and nature of the targeting and the trade craft used,’ he said.   

‘Regrettably, this activity is not new. Frequency has been increasing.’ 

Defence Minister Linda Reynolds said: ‘There is no doubt that malicious cyber activity is increasing in frequency, scale, in sophistication and in its impact.’   

Food and drink company Lion was forced to shut down production for eight days following a cyber attack on 8 June.

Lion, which produces Little Creatures, XXXX, Tooheys and James Squire, shut down its Little Creatures brewery in Geelong. 

Lion did not disclose how much production had been impacted by the cyber attack.

The cyber attack has resulted in temporary shortages or out-of-stock products in kegs, bottles and cans.  

‘While our systems are offline, we have worked very hard to be able to supply a limited number of key products to our customers,’ the statement said.

‘We will continue to accept and fulfill orders as best we can, using interim manual processes where we need to.’ 

Matt Warren, from RMIT University Centre for Cyber Security Research and Innovation, said cyber attacks were ‘the new normal’.

‘It’s not that there’s an increase in cyber-attacks, but we’re seeing these attacks be more successful because what they’re focusing on is the human aspect,’ he told the Geelong Advertiser.

‘It also highlights that organisations aren’t prepared for it.

‘It’s actually a relatively easy cyber attack to recover from, but the problem is because organisations have now become complex, they haven’t kept up their backup resilience strategy to reflect their operations.’     

Earlier this week Australia launched six warships into the Indo-Pacific for training operations ahead of huge show of force in the region with the US Navy.

HMA Ships Canberra, Hobart, Stuart, Anzac, Ballarat and Arunta all left their base in Sydney Harbour on Monday.  

They will conduct ‘task group training’ before taking part in a warfare training exercise with the US and other allies known as the Rim of the Pacific in August.

The exercise is the world’s largest international maritime warfare training mission, held every two years from Honolulu, Hawaii. 

A defence spokesman said the ships are ‘currently conducting maritime task group training under strict COVID-19 preventive measures’.

It comes amid trade tensions with China after Australia angered Beijing by calling for an inquiry into the origins of coronavirus which erupted in Wuhan.

In recent months China has increased training exercises in the Pacific and started trailing its first homemade aircraft carrier. 

This morning Prime Minster Scott Morrison said China should not be shocked by the show of force. 

‘These are our routine partnerships and exercises that we do. There’s nothing extraordinary about that,’ he told Sydney radio 2GB. 

‘I don’t think it would cause anyone any surprise who are looking in from elsewhere.’