The CEO of Australia’s largest telco Telstra has called on the federal government and the telecommunication industry to invest more in cyber defences to counter ransomware and other online attacks.
Andy Penn, who is also the chair of the Cyber Security Industry Advisory Committee, said Australia needed a whole-of-nation approach to online threats due to the fast digital adoption speed of the country.
He also said that the digital space was about to make another significant technological breakthrough that would “enable a whole new world” by the end of this decade.
“A world of multiplying possibilities from artificial intelligence and the ‘Internet of Things,’ the new digital metaverse, robotics, autonomous vehicles, nanotechnology and quantum computing.”
In light of these developments, Penn said Australia could not risk falling behind. However, he noted that the country also had to face new threats.
“The risk of attacks on Australian networks from geopolitical tensions, whether directly or inadvertently, has also increased,” he said.
“And while the threat of cyber attack from state actors is real, it is the knock-on effects that represent significant risks for consumers.”
Taking his company as an example, Penn said Telstra was working 24/7 to prevent malicious activities from harming its networks.
Increasing Threats Facing Australian Businesses
Besides online threats targeting individuals, Australian businesses now face increasing risks from ransomware attacks, email scams and smartphone malware.Penn noted that an estimated 80 percent of Australian companies suffered a ransomware attack in 2021, and the losses caused by email scams reached $80 million (US$55 million).
Meanwhile, Cyber Security Minister Clare O'Neil, who was overhauling the previous Morrison government’s cyber security strategy, said she wanted the industry to contribute as much input as possible.
She also said the government would back critical technologies, support new jobs and skills, and place high importance on cyber security.
Penn said while the elevation of cyber security to the federal cabinet showed the government’s recognition of the issue, community awareness was the “biggest single lever” in fighting online threats.
“Unless we actually help the community help themselves by better password protection, patching systems, offline backups, we’re never going to be able to catch everything,” Penn said.
At the same time, he called for essential cyber awareness to be taught at school for robotics, software engineering, analytics and data science.
“A cyber specialist is usually coming in after the event and trying to fix the problem, whereas, in fact, we can build cyber security more into the products and services from the beginning,” Penn said.
