Companies to report ransomware attacks under new proposal

The government plans to introduce into parliament a new cyber-security bill which would require businesses to disclose ransoms paid to hackers.

Transcript

00:00What the government is trying to do here is get eyes on a problem that's got away from

00:09them and from all of us really.

00:10So in the past five years, ransomware attacks have increased fivefold according to the Australian

00:16Signals Directorate, which is why the centrepiece of this bill, the Cyber Security Act, is going

00:22to be, well, we're going to make it mandatory for businesses, any businesses with an annual

00:27turnover of greater than $3 million, to disclose any payments that they make.

00:34As a way to make that safer, I suppose, for them, because there's a lot of anxiety in

00:38the business community about that, they're saying if you do tell us, we won't alert regulators.

00:45Which is not to say that regulators won't be able to prosecute in the way they would

00:50eventually normally do so, but they just won't get the information from Australian Signals

00:57Directorate or cyber authorities.

01:00They'll have to go about it using their existing powers.

01:02I sat down with the then Home Affairs Minister, Claire O'Neill, just before the Cabinet reshuffle,

01:11and she talked me through the key points.

01:13This is a no-fault scheme.

01:14We're not blaming businesses when they are subjected to a crime.

01:18They're victims of a crime, and that's important to recognise.

01:21But business too are incredibly concerned about this problem, and from the discussions

01:25that we've had, which have been extensive, business are very pleased that government

01:30is taking up the mantle here and pushing towards action on ransomware payments.

01:35They don't want to live in this world where, in an unregulated way, businesses are paying

01:39money to criminals, which is then reinvested back in hurting Australian businesses.

01:45This is not a sustainable situation, and business understand that.

01:48It's not going to be a safe harbour.

01:49This is what the government is quite eager to put across.

01:53The other big message, and this is a tricky balancing act, I suppose, trying to get both

01:57these messages out, but they're saying, you can trust us.

02:01Please just tell us what's going on, because at the moment, no one knows.

02:04It's this big mystery, exactly how bad the problem is.

02:09They really just want to build that trust with business.

02:12What I was hearing from business groups is that they do want to see stronger protections

02:17in place.

02:18It is in a draft format, this bill.

02:22It hasn't been unveiled yet, so we could see it shift some more, but yes, there will be

02:27protections for business that just won't be total.