Does Australia need a 000 for cybercrime?

Australia needs a simple national approach to reporting cyberattacks that every cybercrime victim can use, the CEO of one of the country’s leading managed service and security provider says.

“The Australian Cyber Security Centre reported that a cyber security threat was reported every eight minutes in the past financial year,” FooForce CEO Frances Russell said.

“But hardly anyone knows who to call for help when cyber criminals attack.”

“The missing piece of the law-enforcement puzzle is an emergency number to report cybercrime that is the same no matter where you are in Australia, something similar to 000,” she said.

“The cybercrime reporting system should be so simple that anyone can report a cyberattack.”

“Cybercrime victims shouldn’t need specialist knowledge or be a technical expert,” she said.

The Australian Cyber Security Centre's latest Annual Cyber Threat Report found that the cost of cybercrime in Australia was $33 billion a year.

More than 67,500 cybercrimes were reported in the 2020-21 financial year, an increase of 13 per cent from the year before, ACSC said.

“These figures are likely to be on the low side of what is really happening,” Ms Russell said.

“Many small businesses and individuals aren’t even aware of the ACSC so are unlikely to report a cyberattack because they don’t know it’s even possible to make such a report.”

Ms Russell said it wouldn’t matter to the victims of cyberattacks whether the specialist cyber police were a dedicated national force or state-and-territory-based specialist police units.

“All crime victims should need to care about is that when they call for help that help is available.”

“We have specialist police for almost every other category of crime. We need specialist cybercrime squads with a simple dedicated number they can be quickly reached on,” she said.

Ms Russell said it was up to authorities how a specialist cybercrime reporting line would operate in practice and whether it should be part of the existing 000 emergency response service.

Ms Russell said companies can take simple measures to protect their data and systems from attack.

FooForce’s top five cyber security tips are: 

  • Have a plan for what to do when a cyberattack happens 
  • Test your backup regularly, and make sure it works 
  • Train your staff and yourself – training and awareness is the most effective protection from cyberattack 
  • Keep your computers up to date with patching and anti-malware software 
  • Use the strongest security settings you can including two-factor authentication and long passwords 

Do you think there should be an emergency number available to report cybercrime?

2 comments

Australia definitely needs a specialist number for cyber crime activities

 

We are told to phone your bank immediately if you suspect you have been scammed but have you ever tried to phone a bank and have to WAIT WAIT WAIT to speak to someone.??

I mistakenly thought we had been scammed last Friday and had to phone our financial advisor afterhours to set our minds at rest.

I did not know what else to do !!!

I agree we need a dedicated method of contact and one that is responsive to at least provide an acknowledgement. I have reported what appear to be new scams and a method of reducing the effect of some scams directed at businesses to the cyber investigation unit  in Canberra but it's like like talking to a brick wall.

2 comments



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