Australian Government Doubles Down On Cybersecurity in Wake of Major Attacks
The Australian government is carving out plans to revamp cybersecurity laws and regulations in the wake of a series of damaging high-profile data breaches that rocked the country.
Government officials recently released what it called a consultation paper that outlined specific proposals and solicited input from the private sector in a proclaimed strategy to position the nation as a world leader in cybersecurity by 2030.
As well as addressing gaps in existing cybercrime laws, Australian legislators hope to amend the country's Security of Critical Infrastructure (SOCI) Act 2018 to place a greater emphasis on threat prevention, information sharing, and cyber incident response. Weaknesses in Australia's cyber incident response capabilities were laid bare in the September 2022 cyber assault on telecommunications provider Optus, followed in October by a ransomware-based attack on health insurance provider Medibank.
