The Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) has expanded its cyber security hotline and released new online resources to provide more help to vulnerable Australians.
In a statement, the Centre said its 24-hour Cyber Security Hotline was full of expert staff able to provide Australians with on-tap cyber security advice, assurance and assistance when they needed it.
“The ACSC already provides the latest advice to Australia’s small businesses, culturally and linguistically-diverse communities, older Australians and Australian families through its website,” the ACSC said.
“The expanded hotline means the ACSC can provide even more assistance to Australians, free of charge,” it said.
“The ACSC’s latest Annual Cyber Threat Report showed the cyber threats facing Australians are growing and that cybercriminals are actively targeting Australians.”
The ACSC said that, last financial year, it received over 22,000 calls to the Cyber Security Hotline, an increase of more than 310 per cent from the previous financial year.
Launching the ACSC’s expanded hotline, Minister for Defence Industry, Melissa Price said the expert advice and assistance was only a phone call away.
“This Hotline should be the first number Australians call when they need cyber security help or advice,” Ms Price.
“We need to use every advantage we can to retain the edge over our cyber adversaries, which is why I’m pleased we have another capability in Australia’s cyber arsenal,” she said.
“Our security circumstances are changing rapidly; technology is evolving quicker than we imagined even a few years ago, so we need to be able to respond to threats quickly in our increasingly connected world.”
Ms Price said the ACSC’s new online learning resources offered simple-to-follow cyber security advice to help people protect themselves online, with advice on updating devices; performing regular backups; using two-factor authentication; replacing passwords with passphrases; recognising and reporting scams; and identifying common cyber attacks.
The ACSC’s new cyber security resources can be accessed at this PS News link and its Cyber Security Hotline can be contacted on 1300 292 371.
