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A Significant Month Long Cyberattack on Australia Could Cost the Economy $30 Billion

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Gordon Chang: On the Hong Kong Security Law, the India China Standoff, and Banning TikTok

Just over a week in, what do we know about the National Security Law imposed on Hong Kong by Beijing? Why hasn’t President Trump yet signed the Hong Kong Autonomy Act? How is the Chinese regime becoming increasingly belligerent internationally, from its border with India to the South China Sea? And, how does the Chinese regime mine and use the data of Americans? Should the U.S. ban Chinese-owned apps like TikTok? In this episode, we sit down with political commentator and China analyst Gordon Chang, author of “The Coming Collapse of China.” This is American Thought Leaders ??, and I’m Jan Jekielek. American Thought Leaders is an Epoch Times show available on Facebook and YouTube and The Epoch Times website.  Follow Jan on Twitter: @JanJekielek Focus News: Gordon Chang: On the Hong…

A Significant Month Long Cyberattack on Australia Could Cost the Economy $30 Billion

A significant month-long major cyberattack on Australia could cost the economy $30 billion and over 163,000 jobs, a new report has warned.

An analysis by the independent Australian Cyber Security Network (AustCyber) has called for more investment in secure digital infrastructure and reliable data.

“This will ensure all parts of the Australian economy that are becoming increasingly reliant on digital technologies have a solid base for market confidence,” AustCyber CEO Michelle Price says.

The report estimates digital activities contribute over $1 trillion (US $694.6 billion) to Australia’s economic output and underpins one in six jobs, with the report asserting that “commerce without digital technologies has become nearly impossible.”

The report highlighted this dependency and potential risk by modelling what a potential cyberattack would cost key sectors of the economy.

A Significant Month Long Cyberattack on Australia Could Cost the Economy $30 Billion A consumer looks at Cyber Monday sales on her computer at her home in Palo Alto, Calif., on Nov. 29, 2010 (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma).

It estimated close to 10 percent of all Australian retail transactions were currently conducted online. Disruption over a four-week cyberattack would cost the sector $2 billion (US$1.39 billion) and 18,558 jobs.

The digital health sector would risk losing $174 million and 1,202 jobs, while the space industry would see losses of $178 million and 1,189 jobs.

Michelle Price says the timing of the Digital Trust Report 2020 (pdf) is both “critical and deliberate” and calls for a consolidated effort between government and industry to preserve and evolve Australia’s vital digital activities.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a rapid shift from office work to remote work, highlighting the importance of new digital technologies for the transition.

“The quality of digitisation and its trustworthiness is now under immense pressure as the economy starts to recover from the pandemic,” Price said.

The report found that if Australia is well-prepared for the digital disruption then it can respond effectively by scaling “its workforce responses in the event of such a crisis.”

A Significant Month Long Cyberattack on Australia Could Cost the Economy $30 Billion Cables and computers are seen inside a data centre at an office in the heart of the financial district in London, Britain on May 15, 2017. (REUTERS/Dylan Martinez)

“It would be able to predict the length of a potential shutdown and move instantly to resilience settings,” according to the report.

Data privacy and security has come under the spotlight in recent weeks following the announcement by Prime Minister Scott Morrison that Australia was the target of long-running cyberattacks by a foreign entity. He described it as a “sophisticated, state-based cyber actor”. Commentators have pointed to the Chinese Communist Party as the likely culprit.

The prime minister followed up the announcement with the launch of a new cyber-security package, investing $1.35 billion over the next decade into beefing up Australia’s cyber capabilities.

The minister for government services on July 7 also highlighted plans to improve cybersecurity around government services and data.

He said the department was considering declaring certain sets of information “sovereign data sets” which would only be “hosted in Australia, in an accredited Australian data centre, across Australian networks and only accessed by the Australian government and our Australian service providers.”

Focus News: A Significant Month Long Cyberattack on Australia Could Cost the Economy $30 Billion

US Warns Americans in China of ‘Heightened Risk’ of Arbitrary Detention, Exit Bans

The U.S. state department has warned Americans to exercise “increased caution” in China due to an elevated risk of arbitrary law enforcement, including detention and bans on exiting the country. The security alert, issued on July 11 by the U.S. Embassy in China, said U.S. citizens “may be detained without access to U.S. consular services or information about their alleged crime.” It added that Americans may be subject to “prolonged interrogations and extended detention for reasons related to ‘state security.’” “Security personnel may detain and/or deport U.S. citizens for sending private electronic messages critical of the PRC [People’s Republic of China] government,” the alert said. It did not provide specific examples. The department did not say what prompted the notice. The move comes amid deteriorating relations between Washington and Beijing…