Australia may call in the military to help tackle cyber security threats, following in the footsteps of NATO-member countries. <\/p>\n
Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Cyber Security Dan Tehan said Australia \"wouldn't rule anything out\" in terms of dealing with cyber threats like the Petya ransomware virus that has locked computers in 60 countries, including Australia, this week. <\/p>\n
His comments came just hours after NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels that the 12 alliance members will treat cyber security as a military responsibility. <\/p>\n
\"We welcome this news from NATO overnight,\" Mr Tehan told ABC TV on Thursday. <\/p>\n
\"We obviously have things under active review at the moment, and we will continue to do what we think is right and necessary to keep Australia cyber secure.\" <\/p>\n
Mr Stoltenberg said alliance members agreed last year that a cyber attack could trigger Article 5 of the North Atlantic treaty, much in the same way a military threat against one member country is treated as an attack against all NATO members. <\/p>\n
\"We have also decided and we are in the process of establishing cyber as a military domain meaning that we will have land, air, sea and cyber as military domains,\" he said on the eve of a meeting of NATO defence ministers. <\/p>\n
\"The attack in May and this week just underlines the importance of strengthening our cyber defences and that is what we are doing.\" <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, computer experts have been working in Australia and across the globe to contain the Petya virus that began spreading from Ukraine on Tuesday, locking the computer systems of several major multinational companies. <\/p>\n
So far, problems in Australia appear to have been confined to the computer systems of Cadbury chocolate owner Mondelez, TNT Express, and law firm DLA Piper. <\/p>\n
The problems forced the shutdown of Cadbury's chocolate factory in Hobart and affected four other Mondelez factories on Wednesday after the company's computer systems froze. <\/p>\n
A Mondelez spokeswoman said limited production had begun at some factories on Thursday. <\/p>\n
Mr Tehan said the government was continuing to check whether any more computer systems in Australia had been hit by Petya. <\/p>\n
\"I can say at this stage, both at the federal and the state level, there has been no reports of any government departments or agencies, so it's just those three multinationals at the moment that seem to have been impacted,\" he said. <\/p>\n
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Aust may follow NATO on cyber security - NEWS.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Australia may call in the military to help tackle cyber security threats, following in the footsteps of NATO-member countries. Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Cyber Security Dan Tehan said Australia \"wouldn't rule anything out\" in terms of dealing with cyber threats like the Petya ransomware virus that has locked computers in 60 countries, including Australia, this week Continue reading