Australia's spy agency advises public to expect service outages

The Australian Signals Directorate has told the public to prepare for disruptions to essential online services. The agency argues that securing systems against cyber attacks must take priority over keeping them accessible. This approach may result in temporary outages while security teams complete their work.

In its annual report released this week, the agency detailed its activity during the 2025-26 fiscal year. Staff handled 1,500 cybersecurity incidents, a 20% increase from the prior year. The agency also alerted external organizations, including businesses and government bodies, to more than 4,400 potentially malicious incidents. That notification count rose 80% in a single year.

The report identifies hostile foreign governments, criminals, and hackers as key threats. These actors are using artificial intelligence to gather intelligence, disrupt critical infrastructure, and steal funds. The agency notes that state-based actors have persistently attempted to breach Australian government and private networks. It suggests that actors in the Indo-Pacific region may be conducting these attacks in preparation for future conflicts.

Director General Abigail Bradshaw stated on Monday that Australia needs to accelerate improvements to its technology foundations. She emphasized the need for AI tools to automate defensive tasks. Bradshaw previously discussed the agency's access to the Anthropic Mythos model. The developer reportedly withheld public release of that model due to its ability to identify previously unknown flaws in IT systems.

Government officials support the agency's stance on AI integration. Defence Minister Richard Marles urged Australians to improve their protections using AI. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said the government is preparing to respond to emerging technology threats. Both ministers aligned with Bradshaw’s view that security should precede availability.

The agency identified ageing technology as a major vulnerability. Systems whose manufacturers no longer provide updates are attractive targets for hackers. Last week, newly identified weaknesses in the PHP programming language prompted rapid action from governments and businesses. Most websites rely on this language for operation.

The agency urges organizations to keep systems updated and report suspicious incidents. It encourages them to seek assistance when needed. Bradshaw and Marles reiterated that keeping systems online is secondary to securing them. This strategy may lead to more temporary unavailability of services in the coming period.