Australian businesses are secretly paying vast sums to ransom-ware hackers, and the government is hoping to discover how much, with landmark cyber security legislation. If passed, it would force businesses and government entities to disclose payments or face fines.
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00:00It'll take more than shovels at a new data centre to dig up the truth about ransomware
00:06payments in Australia.
00:08People are paying criminals money and it is happening in the darkness.
00:13Speaking prior to the cabinet reshuffle, the former Home Affairs Minister revealed the
00:17government's plan to drag the problem into the light.
00:21This is not a sustainable situation and business understand that.
00:24If the bill becomes law, businesses with an annual turnover of more than $3 million will
00:28have to report ransom payments.
00:30If they don't, they could face fines of $15,000 or more.
00:35In exchange there's a promise, cyber authorities won't tell regulators.
00:39We're not blaming businesses when they are subjected to a crime, they're victims of a
00:44crime and that's important to recognise.
00:46The message is it's safe to come clean, but it's not quite immunity.
00:51Regulators could still prosecute, but they'll have to get their evidence elsewhere.
00:54What we really need here is for business to be able to trust and be transparent with
01:00specific parts of government when they're under cyber attack.
01:04Business groups aren't convinced.
01:05Not everyone can follow all of the many obligations that are already on a number of businesses
01:11at the moment.
01:12They want smaller companies excluded and stronger protections for businesses that do disclose.
01:17It just needs to be tweaked further to ensure that those that do don't then end up being
01:23prosecuted because they willingly engage with the authorities.
01:27Cyber experts though have a different view.
01:29The Australian population might not see the impact of this bill on a day-to-day basis,
01:33but it will result in uplifted and enhanced cyber security, which is a win for all Australians.
01:39The government is hoping to bring the bill before parliament in the next sitting.