Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Paterson for his very important question. The Australian government last week joined with international partners to condemn Russia's malicious cyberactivity which targeted the state of Georgia in October. The GRU, Russia's military intelligence service, carried out a series of disruptive cyberactivities against a range of Georgian web-hosting providers that resulted in defacement of several thousand websites. They included websites belonging to the government of Georgia, to the courts, to NGOs, to media and to business. The incidents that we, in an international alliance, have attributed to Russia have harmed Georgian citizens' ability to simply go about their lives, have created insecurity within their country and have undermined their democratic institutions. This follows public attributions that Australia and international partners have made for a range of malicious cyberbehaviour previously by North Korea, China and Iran.

We believe in standing firmly with allies and partners to reject such conduct, which poses a clear threat to the international rules based order and, frankly, to our own values. Countries, including Russia, have all given undertakings to act in accordance with international law and norms in cyberspace. Where it serves our national interest, we believe in calling out countries that fail to live up to this agreement. Doing so, in our view, helps to foster a safe and secure cyberspace. Collectively, with like-minded countries, we want to ensure that our citizens can participate in a cyberspace that is a dynamic engine of economic growth and innovation, not a vector of interference or sabotage.