The federal government should consider spending more to develop Australia's cyberattack capabilities, a new report recommends.
The Australian Strategic Policy Institute released its report into the nation's offensive cyber capability on Tuesday.
It says the government should consider a undertaking cost-benefit analysis of the value of "substantial" increases to funding.
The institute also calls for a review of classification levels in some areas to enable information exchange.
The report was critical of some "sensationalist" media coverage of cyber security, cautioning the government to carefully structure its communications in future.
Authors Fergus Hanson and Tom Uren said some reporting of the announcement Australia would use offensive cyber capability against offshore cybercriminals inadvertently sent a message it was acceptable for states to launch cyberattacks against people overseas.
"This might encourage some states to use crime as a pretext to launch cyber operations against individuals in Australia," they wrote.
