ASD tells Australians to expect outages as cyber fixes prioritize security over access

Australian Signals Directorate director general Abigail Bradshaw told the public on Monday to prepare for service disruptions. The agency advised that protecting systems now takes precedence over maintaining constant access, meaning essential online services may go offline while security teams work. This shift in strategy responds to a sharp rise in digital attacks on Australian networks.

The agency’s annual cyber threat report details the scale of the pressure. ASD handled 1,500 cybersecurity incidents during the 2025-26 period, a 20 percent increase from the previous year. It also issued alerts to businesses, government bodies, and critical infrastructure operators for more than 4,400 potentially malicious events. That notification figure rose 80 percent in a single year.

The report identifies hostile foreign governments, criminals, and hackers as the primary threats. These actors are using artificial intelligence to gather intelligence, interfere with critical infrastructure, and steal funds. State-based actors from the Indo-Pacific region are conducting persistent attempts to breach Australian systems. Bradshaw noted that these groups may be preparing for future conflicts through intelligence gathering and disruption.

AI is accelerating the pace of attacks, helping adversaries find weaknesses and execute operations with greater speed. ASD urges leaders to treat cybersecurity as a central business risk rather than a technical afterthought. The agency recommends adopting advanced AI models for defense. These tools can identify vulnerabilities, detect suspicious activity, and improve incident response times. Bradshaw mentioned ASD’s access to Anthropic’s Mythos model, which the developer kept private due to its ability to find previously unknown flaws.

Political leaders have reinforced the message. Defence minister Richard Marles urged Australians to improve their protections while leveraging AI. Home affairs and cybersecurity minister Tony Burke said the government is preparing the country for the threats and opportunities of emerging technologies. Bradshaw identified ageing technology as a major vulnerability, specifically systems whose makers no longer provide updates. Such equipment becomes an attractive target for hackers.

Newly identified weaknesses in PHP, the programming language used by most websites, prompted governments and businesses to rush patches last week. ASD is urging organizations to keep systems updated and report suspicious incidents. Bradshaw and Marles reiterated that security must come before uptime. This approach may leave more services temporarily unavailable as organizations secure their digital foundations.