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ReportDefenceGovernmentMediaAustraliaConfirmed

Australian cyber agency warns of rising AI-enabled threats and service outages

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Source: The Guardian

The Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) says in its annual cyber threat report that it responded to 1,500 cybersecurity incidents in 2025-26, up 20% on the previous year, and notified external entities of more than 4,400 potential malicious cyber incidents, up 80% in a year. ASD warns that hostile foreign governments, criminals and hackers are using AI to gather intelligence, disrupt critical infrastructure and steal money, and says Australians should prepare for more online services to go offline unexpectedly. Director general Abigail Bradshaw said on Monday that AI tools are needed to automate defences against AI-enabled attackers.

Why it matters

ASD says system security must be prioritised over system availability, which could mean more services are forced offline while they are secured, and it describes cybersecurity as a core business risk and leadership responsibility for all organisations.

When
26 Oct 2026
ID
WTA-N-2026-0432
Who
Australian Signals Directorate, Anthropic; Abigail Bradshaw, Richard Marles, Tony Burke

Summary written with AI by wheresthe.ai, from The Guardian. Checked against the source on 26 Oct 2026.

Read the original at The Guardian

Source copy: saved on 26 Oct 2026 to check this story and not republished, because the text belongs to its publisher. Also held by the Internet Archive.

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Cite this story

WTA-N-2026-0432: “Australian cyber agency warns of rising AI-enabled threats and service outages.” wheresthe.ai, 26 Oct 2026. https://wheresthe.ai/d/au-australian-cyber-agency-warns-of-rising-ai-enabled-threat-2026-10/ (source: The Guardian).

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