Gillard puts nation on cyber-attack alert - Sydney Morning Herald

Prime Minister Julia Gillard: "The internet must remain open but also be secure." Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has warned that Australia is a prime target for malicious cyber attacks by hackers and nations.

Launching the nation's first national security strategy on Wednesday in Canberra, Ms Gillard flagged the establishment of a new Australian Cyber Security Centre.

She stressed Australia was ''an attractive target for a range of malicious cyber actors'', warning attacks could come ''from politically-motivated hackers and criminal networks to nation states'' and had the potential to affect businesses and the community as well as government.

''For the public sector, we must ensure that our most important networks are some of the hardest to compromise in the world,'' she said.

''The internet must remain open but also be secure.''

The Prime Minister said the primary focus of the new national security strategy would be on Asia and the behaviour of states rather than other forces.

The strategy outlines six other "key national security risks" on top of malicious cyber activity.

They include the traditional threats of espionage and foreign interference as well as instability in fragile states, weapons of mass destruction, serious and organised crime , terrorism and state-based conflict or coercion that affects Australia's interests.

It sets out "five year priorities," including enhanced engagement with the Asian region and integrated cyber policy.

Ms Gillard notes in the forward to the Strategy that 12 years after the 9/11 attacks, Australia's strategic outlook is largely positive,

"We live in on of the safest and most cohesive nations in the world ... a major war is unlikely."

Ms Gillard said the government would develop a national security capability plan to complement the defence capability plan.

She hoped this would help end the ''silo mentality'' that often stopped effective communication between different parts of the federal government as well as state and territory governments, foreign governments and business.

As well, the government would establish by the end of 2013 a new Australian Cyber Security Centre.

Ms Gillard said that malicious cyber activity was likely to be ''with us for many decades to come''.

''We must be prepared for a long, persistent fight.''

The Prime Minister said Australia's security outlook was moving to a post-9/11 era that would have to cope with ''fiscal stringency''.

''[The last] decade was a time of rapid ramp-up in resources. Now, inevitably, we are in a period of consolidation and we need to get the most value of out every dollar expected,'' Ms Gillard said.

The National Security Strategy will be updated every five years. Ms Gillard said it complemented the Asian Century White Paper released last year, and the Defence White Paper, due for release later this year.

On Wednesday, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said the most important security threats Australia faced were ''Islamist terrorism'' and global instability.

''We live in an unstable world and it's important Australia can play its part in our region, and further afield, to do what we can to make the world safer and better, and that's why we are involved in Afghanistan, for instance,'' he said.

Mr Abbott said the economic, and therefore military rise of China, and cyber attacks were part of that mix of global instability.

''That's obviously an element,'' he said. ''But in the end, we have to be ready to defend our interests, our values, and our people wherever they are at risk.''

with AAP

Follow the National Times on Twitter