The intensity and regularity of state sponsored cyber-attacks on individuals and organisations within Australia has been compared to a bombing raid. During a conference held by Peter Dutton, the Minister for Defence, the growing risks in relation to a ramp up in state sponsored cyber-attacks were emphasised.
Mr Dutton also mentioned that Iranian, North Korean, Russian and Chinese state actors have been targeting Australian individuals and organisations.
“Whilst Australians may not see the activity online every day, our country is already under attack online”, says the Minister for Defence.
These breaches have impacted many critical infrastructures in other jurisdictions, undermining water supply, energy and telecommunications networks.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison advised that the attacks targeted all levels of government, along with political organisations, vital service providers and other critical infrastructure. While the threat was constant, the regularity of attacks has increased ‘over many months’.
How to protect your organisation from cyber-attacks
To protect your organisation from a state-sponsored cyber-attack you should consider the following:
- Conduct a Threat and Risk Assessment (TRA), to ensure you have a general understanding of the threats facing your organization, the likely impact of an attack and your current level of mitigation.
- Create a crisis management team, so you have an organized group of trained, well equipped and prepared people in place to respond if and when something happens.
- Conduct a Business Impact Analysis (BIA), ensuring you understand what your most critical business processes are, and know what is most important for you to protect.
- Devise an IT/DR plan, so you have the capability of restoring and recovering your critical computer systems.
Contact us at Agilient to discuss how to protect and prepare your organisation against cyber-attacks.
Author: Mahdi Kobeissi, Cyber Security Consultant