New sabotage laws for cyber attacks on Australia's critical infrastructure"

[Wwcd]

"For the first time, sabotage will include planting a device or piece of computer code that can be used to damage Australia's national security. "

Link to tweet

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*From the Article at The Sydney Morning Herald
https://amp.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/new-sabotage-laws-for-cyber-attacks-on-australias-critical-infrastructure-20171207-h00oc2.html?__twitter_impression=true



New sabotage laws for cyber attacks on Australia's critical infrastructure

Sabotage laws will be modernised to cover all major critical infrastructure including utilities; key transport facilities such as ports; and healthcare infrastructure, including the Medicare computer system.

For the first time, sabotage will include planting a device or piece of computer code that can be used to damage Australia's national security or a piece of critical infrastructure. Doing so deliberately will carry a jail term of up to 15 years.

Attorney-General George Brandis said the sabotage changes to the Criminal Code would "transform an outdated wartime law into world-leading provisions crafted to protect Australia's national critical infrastructure in the digital age".

The Turnbull government's package of foreign interference laws – which were set to be introduced to Parliament on Thursday afternoon – will also include a transparency scheme under which people or organisations who legitimately try to influence politics on behalf of a foreign power will need to register on a public list.

SNIP
...the new laws were important in emphasising the motivation and intention of attackers, meaning they could be prosecuted as saboteurs rather than just hackers.

The laws should also make it easier for authorities to chase foreign-backed attackers who were overseas, though the government would need to keep improving co-operation with other governments to make that effective, she said.

More at Link..

[nycbos]

1. This is how the wars of the 21st century are going to be fought.

[Wwcd]

2. Indeed they wiil be. Good to see our FVEY ally, taking it critically serious

The US will need all allies, to one day restore itself, so we may then return such a favor.

Australia has wasted no time in strengthening their hand against the saboteurs of cyberwars.

[Hortensis]

3. Pardon my cyber ignorance, but this sounds like something

that might have been passed 30 years ago and become inadequate...30 years ago. Don't all nations already have that?

There's obviously something big I'm missing.

[erronis]

4. From what I know of 5-Eyes, most of the rules become more restrictive of rights and privacy

Rather than trying to counter cyber attacks.

Maybe they will counter news of cyber attacks by making it illegal to report on them. Therefore there will be less reported cyber attacks. (I've worked in government, know how it [doesn't] work.)