Cyber Crime Spreads in Australia as COVID-19 Pushes More People Online

Richard Marley

September 16, 2021

The Australian Cyber Security Center (ACSC) revealed that they received one cybercrime report every 8 minutes for 12 months until June 30, 2021.

On Wednesday (15 September), Australia reported that the cybercrime rate in the country had increased by 13% in the last year. The major driver behind the growth has been identified as the rising consumer shift towards the online spaces amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Australian Cyber Security Center (ACSC) revealed that they received one cybercrime report every 8 minutes for 12 months until June 30, 2021.

According to the Australian Federal Police (AFP), the term ‘cybercrime’ is used when referring to the crimes directed at computers or other information communications technologies (ICTs) as well as the crimes where computers or ICTs are used as an integral part to commit an offence (such as online fraud).

Defence Minister Andrew Hasty added to the ACSC announcement in his recent statement and focused on the role played by remote hackers that use the fear induced by COVID-19 to aggressively target vulnerable individuals and medical services.

According to Reuters, ransomware incidents increased by nearly 15%, with the medical sector reporting the second-highest number of attacks since last year.

“Malicious cybercriminals are escalating attacks on Australians,” Hasty said while explaining how the attacks were mainly targeted at the government, political parties, and medical institutions and other essential service providers.

Sources told Reuters that Australia views China as the primary suspect behind the cyberattacks, which Beijing has completely denied.