Australia: Forging the Path to Cybersecurity Dominance by 2030

The Australian government is aiming to become a global leader in cybersecurity by 2030, with a focus on enhancing digital security for individuals and businesses. The government’s efforts include transitioning its online platform, myGov, to a passwordless system with phishing-resistant multi-factor authentication (MFA) to improve security. These measures come after breaches caused by phishing attacks resulted in successful intrusions and significant financial losses. The Australian Cyber Security Strategy for 2023-2030 and an update to the Maturity Model for the Essential Eight have also been introduced, highlighting the importance of phishing-resistant MFA. The government’s initiatives have been praised by technology company Yubico, and recent legislation has enhanced MFA requirements, making phishing-resistant MFA mandatory at lower maturity levels. These updates reflect the rise in MFA adoption, international standards, increased attacks against weaker MFA implementations, and policy amendments by the Australian Signals Directorate’s partners. The government will likely implement additional measures in the future to protect citizens against escalating cyber attacks.