Australian hackers who have engaged in a cyberwar with Russia and its government could potentially find themselves in legal jeopardy. 

When global hackers collective Anonymous swiftly declared cyberwar on Moscow last month, they claimed that they were able to affect Kremlin websites along with the Russian defence department and space agency. 

“The hacking collective #Anonymous hacked into the Russian streaming services Wink and Ivi (like Netflix) and live TV channels Russia 24, Channel One, Moscow 24 to broadcast war footage from Ukraine,” @YourAnonNews tweeted. 

Marine tracking data was also altered by hackers, renaming Mr Putin’s yacht “FCKPTN” on digital displays, and around 200 gigabytes worth of emails was stolen from Belarusian weapons manufacturer Tetraedr and released to the public. 

However, hacking and DoS attacks are considered offences under Australian online safety laws along with online child exploitation, fraud, money laundering and identity theft.  

“People undertaking cybercrime activities from Australia, such as hacking against a foreign government entity, may be committing an offence,” a Home Affairs spokesperson stated. 

The maximum penalty for unauthorised access or modification of restricted data is two years’ imprisonment. Meanwhile, unauthorised impairment of electronic communication could earn 10 years in jail. 

In Australia, Foreign Minister Marise Payne has announced sanctions on Moscow’s “propagandists and purveyors of disinformation”. 

“Tragically for Russia, President Putin has shut down independent voices and locked everyday Russians into a world characterised by lies and disinformation,” she said. 

The Australian Government is also working with Facebook, Twitter and Google to stop disinformation by Russian state media within Australia, with SBS and Foxtel announcing the suspension of Russia Today and NTV broadcasting. 

Although Ukraine wanted a blackout for Russia from core parts of the internet, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) rejected their official request to act against Russian websites. 

ICANN stated that its mission does not extend to punitive action, issuing sanctions or restricting access regardless of the provocation. Nonetheless, they have allocated an initial $A1.4 million to support internet access for users within Ukraine. 

Russian Internet Service Providers started throttling access to Twitter and other social media platforms within days of the invasion. 

The Russian Government also introduced higher penalties for disseminating false information about its military operations, discrediting its armed forces and supporting calls for anti-Russian sanctions.  

Meanwhile, researchers at private cyber security firm Proofpoint say they have identified a Chinese state-aligned hacking group targeting diplomats in Europe with malware emails. 

The emails featured malicious links and decoy documents relating to border movements of Ukrainian refugees, with the aim of delivering malware called PlugX. 

The threat actor identified as Red Delta is known to be aligned with China and the tempo of attacks has increased sharply since Russian troops began massing on the border. 

Defence Minister Peter Dutton has stated his concern with the reports of Chinese telco giant Huawei providing support to Russia, keeping its Internet running to sustain the attacks from hackers around the world. 

“Every other responsible country in the world is looking at ways they can sanction and stop trading with Russia to keep the pressure up on President Putin to stop these horrific acts of war crimes that we’re seeing committed by Russia at the moment,” he stated. 

However, Minister Dutton expressed that he will not be backing a private citizen’s army of hackers, nor will he disclose whether Australia has unleashed its offensive cyber capabilities or intends to. 

With AAP

Eliza Sayon

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Eliza is a content producer and editor at Public Spectrum. She is an experienced writer on topics related to the government and to the public, as well as stories that uplift and improve the community.

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