Cyber-spies targeting Australia: A-G

The federal government's computer network has almost certainly been targeted by
cyber-spies from other countries, Attorney-General Robert McClelland says.

Mr McClelland was speaking at Monday's launch of a new cyber-security strategy.
"It's suspected in some incidents nation states (are responsible)," he told reporters.
"A lot of it is from organised crime but we can't be naive: some of it is, we
suspect, from nation states."
Mr McClelland pointed to recent vandalism of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's website as
part of what the government was fighting.
"There's also evidence of more significant breaches. Clearly there's evidence of
critical infrastructure also being targeted."
The strategy is three-fold and led by a commitment to improving cyber-security in
the suburbs.
Mr McClelland warned that many home computer users would likely not even realise
their personal information was being stolen from their hard drive.
"Compromised home computers can readily be organised into 'botnets' that may be used
to launch attacks against government or other critical systems," the strategy warns.
The strategy also calls for business and government to step up their alertness to
cyber-threats.
In response to its own strategy, the government has created the Computer Emergency
Response Team, or CERT, which will be operational from January.
The team will work alongside the Defence Department's cyber-security operations
centre, which was created as part of the government's Defence white paper issued
earlier this year.
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy said the success of cyber-defence affected
the real world economy.
"Ensuring consumers and businesses have confidence in online systems will be
essential for Australia to reap the full benefits of the digital economy," Senator
Conroy said in a statement.