Television Interview, Sunrise

SUBJECT/S: Ukraine conflict; Annual Cyber Threat Report

HOST, NATALIE BARR:  For more we're joined by Acting Prime Minister, Richard Marles, live in Canberra. Good morning. How worried are you about this development?

ACTING PRIME MINISTER, RICHARD MARLES: I think any talk about the use of nuclear weapons is completely reprehensible. And this comes from a leader who has demonstrated a willful disregard for the rules based order and the sovereignty of a neighbor in terms of Ukraine. You know, we're also deeply worried about Russia's growing relationship with North Korea and the fact that we've now got North Korean troops on the border with Ukraine. This is escalatory in what is already an unacceptable conflict in terms of the way in which Russia has illegally invaded Ukraine. And that's why we'll continue to stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes for this to be resolved on their terms.

BARR: Okay. In other news, the Annual Cyber Threat Report released this morning has revealed that cybercrimes targeting Aussies are being committed every six minutes on average. They are incredible stats- that's a 12 per cent increase since the same time last year. How concerning is this?

MARLES: It is concerning and this is a real and present threat which is happening now. There's a report every six minutes. The cost of each of these reports has also gone up. So, an 8 per cent increase in these attacks for each attack for small business- 17 per cent increase in the cost of an attack on an individual. We're also saying seeing an increased focus on going after Australia's critical infrastructure, both from criminals but also state actors. So, this is a threat that we need to be dealing with right now. We are doing that. We're pretty well doubling the size of the Australian Signals Directorate, which is our main agency which deals with this over the course of a five year period. Can I say it's really important for businesses to understand what systems they have in place- that might sound obvious, but many don't. This is an evolving threat. So, the businesses, you can't just sit and forget here in terms of your cyber defences, you have to evolve them as time goes on. And it's really important that businesses work with ASD. ASD is a national asset- they are the national experts and they can help.

BARR: So, if you're a business or you're an individual, what do you do this morning when you hear this?

MARLES: Well, you've got to- well, our particular focus this year is on businesses. You've got to go out and make sure that you understand what systems you have in your business. Lots of businesses actually don't know that. And there might be old legacy IT systems that they've got, which in effect represent a backdoor for cyber criminals to come into your business. And it's really important that you do have up to date cyber defences, but you don't set and forget. You've got to continue to monitor this, to make sure that those are you putting the patches on, that they are evolving as you go forward. And if you are attacked, report it to ASD immediately and seek their help.

BARR: Yep. Okay. They're smarter than most of us, so get onto it. Thank you very much, Richard Marles.

MARLES: Thanks, Nat.

ENDS