Cyber Security News

Australian Government launches coordinated cybercrime crackdown

Eliza Sayon Mar 21, 2022

2 min read

The Australian Government is securing the country’s future thanks to the opening of a new Australian Federal Police-led centre dedicated to combatting crime online and the launching of the National Plan to Combat Cybercrime.

Minister for Home Affairs Karen Andrews revealed that the National Plan and the AFP’s new cybercrime centre would bring together the experience, powers, capabilities and intelligence needed to build a strong, multi-faceted response towards cybercrime.

“During the pandemic, cybercrime became one of the fastest-growing and most prolific forms of crime committed against Australians. The tools and the techniques used to rob or extort Australians became more effective and more freely available than ever before,” Minister Andrews said.

“This is why the Australian Government is taking strong, decisive action to safeguard Australians, their data, and our shared digital future.”

Both initiatives build on the Australian Government’s comprehensive cybersecurity measures, including:

securing landmark reforms to national security legislation to better protect critical infrastructure;
making Australians safer through the passage of important legislation that will revolutionise the way agencies investigate and prosecute cybercrime;
ensuring law enforcement agencies have much-needed powers to combat crime on the dark web;
cracking down and protecting Australians from ransomware through the Ransomware Action Plan;
facilitating the exchange of digital information with US authorities by signing the CLOUD Act Agreement with the United States; and,
launching a public information campaign to increase Australia’s cyber security.

The National Plan will support industries to grow online, build wider confidence in the digital economy, ensure safer online spaces for children, and better support law enforcement against malicious cyber actors.

“I’m serious about enforcing the law and protecting Australia’s digital future, which is why the Plan is backed up by the resources, intelligence, and capabilities of a new AFP-led cybercrime centre,” Minister Andrews said.

“Using far-reaching Commonwealth legislation and high-end technical capabilities, the AFP’s new cybercrime centre will aggressively target cyber threats, shut them down, and bring offenders to justice.”

The new centre – the Joint Policing Cybercrime Coordination Centre (or the ‘JPC3’) – is based in the AFP’s New South Wales Headquarters, and has been established with $89 million in funding provided through the Australian Government’s $1.67 billion Cyber Security Strategy.

Source: Minister for Home Affairs Media Release

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.