House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-10-19 Daily Xml

Contents

Cybersecurity

Mr COWDREY (Colton) (14:21): It's 46, sir. My question is to the Premier. Have any other cybersecurity breaches occurred since the change of government and, if so, when and what was the nature of those breaches?

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (14:22): The government regularly receives advice regarding potential cyber attacks. It should be plainly clear—and I am sure members of the opposition will appreciate this—that cyber attacks on various government resources happen on a highly frequent basis. Almost all of those attacks are successfully repelled through the extraordinary hard work of the teams involved but, as I said in a press conference earlier this morning, this is an increasingly complex exercise. It is difficult by nature by virtue of the fact that we are dealing with an adversary that doesn't have an onshore presence. These are people who seek to attack our system—

Mr Whetstone interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: The member for Chaffey says that cyber attacks are a secret. The member for Chaffey needs to start reading the news from time to time. Cyber attacks happen on a frequent basis, and the state government is not immune from that. There are literally hundreds upon hundreds of cyber attacks that happen on a regular basis. This is what we have to deal with, this is the world we now live in.

Regarding the question about breaches, I am more than happy to take on notice the specifics of the member's question. The breach that the Treasurer spoke to rather plainly yesterday is the most significant I am aware of, notwithstanding that it originates from a breach that happened during the course—

Mr Cowdrey interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Colton!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —a breach that originates from the breach that occurred back in 2019.

Mr Cowdrey interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!