Advice provided to the Federal Government by the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC), indicates that Australian organisations are being targeted by a sophisticated state-based cyber actor.

Although this activity is not new, the advice suggests the frequency has been increasing, targeting Australian organisations across a range of sectors, including all levels of government, industry, political organisations, education, health, essential service providers, and operators of other critical infrastructure.

Describing cyber security as a “shared responsibility of us all”, the Government says it is vital that Australian organisations take steps to enhance the resilience of their networks.

The three steps recommended by the Government for Australian organisations who might be concerned about their vulnerability to sophisticated cyber compromise are:

1. Patch your internet facing devices promptly – ensuring any web or email servers are fully updated with the latest software.
2. Ensure you use multifactor authentication to secure your internet accessible infrastructure and cloud-based platforms.
3. Become an ACSC partner to ensure you get the latest cyber threat advice so you can take the earliest possible action to protect yourself online.

The ACSC and the Department of Home Affairs has published a more detailed technical advisory with advice for Australian businesses and organisations to protect themselves from this threat, which is available here. 

Individuals, sole traders and small business can report cybercrime to the ACSC using the ReportCyber service here. 

More from The Business Conversation:

Russell Zimmerman joins eftpos to help Aussie businesses cut costs in COVID rebuild

100 days till JobKeeper ends: can SMEs stand on their own two feet?

Digitisation key to small business success : survey