A recent string of data breaches has prompted rapid changes to Australia’s cybersecurity and data protection policies, and the latest development appears to be a cyber task force set to “hack back” and actively pursue what Minister for Home Affairs Clare O’Neil described as “scumbags.”
Home Affairs is promising a new “tough on crime” policy toward cyber incidents and data leaks, as millions of Australian citizens have seen sensitive personal data stolen from a variety of major companies and long lines have formed to have compromised personal identification re-issued. The agency is promising a force of around 100 officers comprised of a partnership between the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the Australian Signals Directorate.
The Home Affairs office says that the cyber task force will be a standing operation that focuses on criminal syndicates, and that it would engage in “day in day out” actions in tracking down the perpetrators of data breaches. Officials said that the string of recent attacks can be tied to organized criminal groups in Russia, but stopped short of naming specific targets when asked if the notorious REvil ransomware gang had been involved in the attack on Medibank.
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Source: CPO Magazine