Australian Minister Of Home Affairs Considers Banning Ransom Payments To Hackers

Australia's Minister of Home Affairs, Clare O'Neill, (left) wants to ban ransom to hackers. (photo: Twitter @ClareONeillMP)

JAKARTA - Australia's Home Affairs Minister, Clare O'Neil, said Sunday, November 13th that her government would consider making it illegal to pay ransoms to cyber hackers. This was forced to do, following the recent cyber attacks that affected millions of Australians.

Australia's largest health insurer, Medibank Private Ltd, suffered a massive cyberattack last month, as Australia grapples with an increase in hacking.

The telecommunications company owned by Singapore Telecommunications Optus, Australia's second-largest telecommunications company, along with at least eight other companies, have been hacked since September.

I have a message for all cybercriminals: Australia is fighting back.#Insiders pic.twitter.com/jEyk6rzgGj

— Clare O'Neil MP (@ClareONeilMP) November 13, 2022

In an interview with ABC television on Sunday as to whether the government plans to ban ransom payments to cybercriminals, O'Neil said "it does".

"We will do it in the context of ... cyber strategy," she said.

The comments come after O'Neil on Saturday, November 12, formalized a new cyber policing model between the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the Australian Signals Directorate, which will intercept electronic communications from foreign countries, to carry out "tough police action" on cyber crimes.

About 100 officers will be part of the new partnership between the two federal agencies, which will act as a joint operation against cyber criminals.

The task force will "day after day, hunt down the bastards responsible for these evil crimes", she said.

AFP earlier this week said Russian-based hackers were behind the attack on Medibank, which compromised the data of some 10 million current and former customers.

Attorney General Mark Dreyfus last Saturday declined to say whether the Russia-based REvil ransomware group was responsible for the recent cyber attacks against Australians, but said it was a "highly organized criminal gang" located in Russia.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese earlier said the government was doing all it could to limit the impact of the Medibank hack and had set up a telephone service for affected customers to seek help from the government and Medibank.