From: ABC News (Australia)

The head of Australia’s domestic intelligence organisation says governments and big business need to face up to the threat of cyber exploitation.

David Irvine, the director general of the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), has told a Canberra forum there have been thousands of reports of cyber attacks on businesses this year.

He says boardrooms of big business need to wake up to the potential for hackers to steal sensitive information about their customers, prices and forecasts.

“Reports of more than 5,000 cyber incidents so far this year. That’s reports this year; there are more,” he said.

“We certainly encourage businesses to be very proactive in this space and to cooperate in reporting such incidents.

“The information stolen from our systems today makes a less-prosperous future tomorrow.”

Mr Irvine says the world of online espionage and exploitation is ballooning into one of the most significant threats to Australia’s national security.

He says Australian courts have convicted more than 20 people for planning terrorist acts that could have led to mass casualties.

But the ASIO chief says the apparent weakening of Al Qaeda and the actions of law enforcement agencies has not extinguished the threat to Australia.

“The threat, which is now predominantly home-grown – even if inspired by ideology from overseas – is assessed by ASIO to be persistent and chillingly real,” he said.

The ASIO chief says government agencies have also been warned about the potential for national security to be compromised online.

He outlined some of the biggest concerns ASIO has about what hackers are capable of when they crash internet servers, including “stopping our planes from flying, disrupting national financial transaction networks or the electricity grid”.

In recent weeks government department’s have detected attempts by hackers to crash their web servers.

“Our telecommunications networks (could be) impeded or brought down, leading to failures in other essential services, given that for example our banks would be unable to conduct electronic transactions,” Mr Irvine said.

Earlier this month, the Australian arm of the international hacking group Anonymous claimed responsibility for disrupting ASIO’s website.

ASIO confirmed that its website had suffered “technical issues” but did not elaborate further.