Australian military cyber warriors authorised to target offshore criminals

The federal government has announced its intention to launch an offensive cyber capability to fight cyber criminals and thwart attacks against Australia.

Anticipating cybercrime to cost the Australian economy at least AU$1 billion per year, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has directed the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) to use its offensive cyber capabilities to "disrupt, degrade, deny, and deter" organised offshore cyber criminals.

By using the intelligence agency's cyber capability, which Turnbull said is currently used to help target, disrupt, and defeat terrorist organisations such as Daesh, Australia is expected to have a stronger arsenal to prevent and shut-down safe-havens for offshore cyber criminals.

"The recent WannaCry and Petya ransomware attacks have affected governments, businesses, and individuals around the world," Turnbull said on Friday.

"Cyber criminals continue to adapt and evolve their methods and tactics, increasingly employing new methods to gain access to a victim and extort funds. As their level of sophistication has improved, cyber criminals are increasingly targeting businesses directly.

"Our response to criminal cyber threats should not just be defensive. We must take the fight to the criminals."

It is expected the ASD will be tasked with defending Australian military targets from cyber attacks and preparing to launch its own assaults on foreign forces, and that it will comprise of specialists staff with a mixture of defence personnel and public service employees, the ABC reported.

Turnbull launched the country's AU$240 million cybersecurity strategy in April last year, which is aimed at defending the nation's cyber networks from organised criminals and state-sponsored attackers, and sits alongside the AU$400 million provided in the Defence White Paper for cyber activities.

Since its inception at the end of 2014, there have been over 114,000 reports of cybercrime registered with the Australian Cybercrime Online Reporting Network (ACORN), and, according to Turnbull, 23,700 incidents have been reported over the last six months.

"The government will target criminals wherever they seek to hurt Australian citizens but every Australian has a role to play in ensuring our cybersecurity," the prime minister added. "We must work together to share threat information and learn from each other about the online threats that seek to do us harm."

from Latest Topic for ZDNet in... http://ift.tt/2u57hCP