ScoMo blasts Russia

‘Cyberspace not the wild west’: PM hits out over attacks

SCOTT Morrison has condemned Russia for orchestrating a series of malicious cyber attacks, saying “cyberspace is not the wild west” and Moscow has shown a “total disregard” for international law.

In an extraordinary rebuke the Australian Prime Minister joined other world leaders in naming and shaming Russia and its intelligence agency the GRU for a series of attacks on “political, business, media and sporting institutions worldwide”.

They include 2016 hacks on the World Anti-Doping Agency and the US Democratic National Committee, 2015 attacks on a UK television station and a 2017 attack on its own citizens and victims in Ukraine.

In the October 2017 attack, Russian hackers infected victims in Ukraine and Russia, interrupting businesses and critical national infrastructure, including energy and transport sectors, the Australian Government says.

“Based on advice from Australian intelligence agencies, and in consultation with our partners and allies, the Australian Government has determined that the Russian military, and their intelligence arm the GRU, is responsible for this pattern of malicious cyber activity,” Mr Morrison said in a statement.

“While Australia was not significantly impacted, this activity affected the ability of the public in other parts of the world to go about their lives.

“It caused significant, indiscriminate harm to civilian infrastructure and resulted in millions of dollars in economic damage, including in Russia.

“This is unacceptable and the Australian Government calls on all countries, including Russia, to refrain from these types of malicious activities.

“Cyberspace is not the wild west ... Russia has shown a total disregard for the agreements it helped to negotiate.”

Mr Morrison said there must be consequences, adding the “first step” was calling out the behaviour publicly.