A report by the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) has revealed a worrying rise in cyber threats to Australia’s critical infrastructure, with over 11% of cybersecurity incidents last year targeting essential services such as electricity, gas, water, education, and transport.
The report, released on Wednesday, highlighted that state-sponsored actors and cybercriminals are employing increasingly sophisticated methods to infiltrate government systems, infrastructure, and businesses.
“We are worryingly seeing an increased focus by both cybercriminals and state actors on our critical infrastructure,” Defence Minister Richard Marles said in a radio interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
The ASD detailed the most common tactics used in these attacks, with phishing accounting for 25% of incidents, exploitation of public-facing interfaces 21%, and brute-force attacks 15%.
Australia has attributed some of these cyber incidents to China, Russia, and Iran, noting a concerning evolution in cyber tactics, particularly from China.
The report observed that China’s choice of targets and behavior align with “pre-positioning for disruptive effects rather than traditional cyber espionage operations.”
Beijing has repeatedly denied such allegations, rejecting claims by both the U.S. and Australian governments that it has used hackers to penetrate foreign systems.
Marles emphasized the global nature of the challenge, stating that Australia is working closely with international partners to address the threat.
