The Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) has launched a campaign aimed at helping people protect themselves against cyber-crime.
The campaign provides easy-to-follow advice for families, business and organisations on how to protect themselves from various cyber threats.
Minister for Defence, Scenator Linda Reynolds said the campaign would initially run on social media and digital platforms.
“Cyber-criminals are relentless, operating around the clock and around the world in a bid to steal the data and money from Australian businesses and families,” Senator Reynolds said.
“Australians are reporting more than one cyber-crime every 10 minutes, making it more important than ever that we all remain alert to the threat.”
Minister for Home Affairs, Peter Dutton said the Cyber Security Strategy 2020 complemented the campaign.
“Having a Strategy as a country to deal effectively with online threats is essential to keeping Australians safe from cyber-criminals,” Mr Dutton said.
“The Strategy ensures our Agencies have the powers and capabilities they need to identify and disrupt threats to the safety of Australians, particularly children, the most vulnerable members of our community.”
Head of the ACSC, Abigail Bradshaw said the campaign would see continuous and practical cyber-security advice provided to all Australians, beginning with ransomware.
“Ransomware is a type of malware that locks up your files until a ransom is paid. Criminals can steal a copy of files to coerce you to pay the ransom by threatening to publicly leak or sell your data,” Ms Bradshaw said.
The cyber security campaign also aims to encourage more Australians to report cyber incidents through the ACSC’s ReportCyber tool, which provides a single online portal for individuals and business to report cyber incidents.
