Watch FIFA World Cup 2026™

LIVE, FREE and EXCLUSIVE

Govt to review cybersecurity threat

The federal government has announced a review of cybersecurity as intelligence agencies deal with a rise in attacks.

A panel of experts will review the nation's cybersecurity following a 40 per cent rise in attacks.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott says the security of the nation's IT networks is critical to business, government and personal safety.

The review, which comes six years after the last inquiry, will examine corporate and government security and the types of cyber threats likely to present the biggest challenges.

Defence spy agency the Australian Signals Directorate last year responded to 940 significant cybersecurity incidents - a 37 per cent rise on the previous year.

Cybercrime is said to cost the community more than $1 billion a year.

The review panel will include business chief Jennifer Westacott, Cisco's chief security officer John Stewart, Telstra's chief information security officer Mike Burgess, and security analyst Tobias Feakin.


1 min read

Published

Updated


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News straight to your inbox

Sign up now for daily news from Australia and around the world. You can also subscribe to Insight's weekly newsletter for in-depth features and first-person stories.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Follow SBS News

Download our apps

Listen to our podcasts

Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service

Watch now

Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world