Australian PM: Australia Has Become Target of “Sophisticated” Cyber Attack by a “State-Based Actor”

By Staff, Agencies

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said during a press conference that a major cyber-attack has been detected in the nation, targeting a range of sectors, including “all levels of government”.

“This activity is targeting Australian organizations across a range of sectors, including all levels of government, industry, political organizations, education, health, essential service providers and operators of other critical infrastructure”, Morrison told reporters.

He said that it is now known that a “sophisticated state-based actor” is behind the attack, noting that such attacks are a “constant issue for Australia to deal with” and their frequency has been “increasing over many months”.

“We know it is a sophisticated, state-based cyber actor because of the scale and nature of the targeting and the tradecraft used. Regrettably, this activity is not new. Frequency has been increasing”, the PM said.

The Prime Minister refused any “public attribution over the identity” of the “state-based actor”. He outlined that state and territory governments and chief ministers, along with the Opposition, were notified on the matter the previous night, reporting that “a number of them have already been involved working with our agencies on these issues”.

Morrison added that “no large-scale data breaches of Australians’ personal information” have occurred as a result of the attack, and recommended that all Australian organizations take steps to protect themselves.