New Cybersecurity Legislation To Force Companies To Disclose Ransom Payments Amid Surge In Cyberattacks

The Australian government is planning to introduce a new bill to expose the practice of businesses making secret substantial payments to hackers, which in turn leads to further ransomware attacks.

Under the Cyber Security Act, which will be tabled in the parliament, companies will be mandated to declare the ransom payment or risk paying hefty fines, ABC reported.

Despite significant financial losses for millions, ransom payments have been on the rise. Recently, companies such as MediSecure, Optus and Latitude fell prey to cyberattacks.

The government is now scrambling to increase transparency and stamp out any future possibility of assaults and financial losses.

The administration, which initially planned to ban these payments entirely, was now focusing on understanding the root causes to eliminate the practice once and for all.

"We have a situation where people are paying criminals money and it is happening in the darkness," former minister for cybersecurity Clare O'Neil told ABC.

Businesses that register AU$1.96 million in yearly sales are required to disclose the payment given to the hackers or risk penalties. Industry associations wholeheartedly supported the law, but argued that businesses with annual revenues over AU$6.5 million only should come under the radar.

The Australian Cyber Security Centre said in its 2022–2023 Annual Cyber Threat Report that it received reports of a cyber event every six minutes on average. Since the pandemic, ransomware assaults have increased by around five times.

The government believes the new law would help track and stop hacker activity, as cybercriminals in the Five Eyes alliance -- Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States -- are getting paid billions of dollars in ransom.

"It is believed that in the Five Eyes countries alone [Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States] literally billions of dollars in ransoms is being paid, and criminal gangs are reinvesting that money ... to attack us again," O'Neil said.