AI-Driven Cyber Scams 'Real And Present Threat' To Australia's Critical Infrastructure

Australia's signals intelligence agency has warned people that cybercriminals were using advanced AI techniques and fake QR codes to dupe unsuspecting victims into revealing their personal information or downloading malicious files, with the intent to fleece them of their money.

Australia's critical infrastructure has widely fallen target to this hacking spree, and hospitals and water systems were increasingly vulnerable to ransomware, data theft, and manipulation.

State-sponsored hackers were leveraging AI's popularity to infiltrate computer systems of businesses and organizations and then sitting dormant to remain undetected, the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) warned, according to The Guardian.

The "shifting tactics" was a new emerging trend in hacking, which was posing serious cybersecurity issues, the agency said in its annual cyber threat report released Tuesday. As many as 87,000 reports of cybercrime over the 2023-24 financial year among, which 1,100 incidents were responded to. The ASD report added 11% of the targeted attacks were on infrastrucures like gas, water and electricity.

Defense Minister Richard Marles, who oversaw the ASD, stated that cybercrime figures remained steady year-over-year. Nonetheless, a surge in costs associated with small business cybercrime was observed, with average reported losses for small businesses reaching AU$50,000 and individual incidents averaging AU$30,700.

Experts believe China-sponsored groups are behind the cyberattacks, adopting "living off the land" techniques to hack into critical information to further their malicious agenda.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Marles said it was high time Australia started enacting measures to nip it in the bud. "This is a real and present threat," he said, reported AAP.

Marles confirmed that the government was pumping funds for an effective ASD crackdown on cybercriminals and contemplating doubling the workforce within five years.

Meanwhile, ASD Director General Abigail Bradshaw said that the changing environment online and rising geopolitical tensions may have been the catalysts.

"This year's threat requires a shift in the nation's cyber security posture towards stronger defences," she said. "It is a digital landscape in which, unfortunately, none of us can switch off lest we be forcibly disconnected by malicious actors."