Australian Government on Alert in Wake of Global Cyber Attack

Australia’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Saturday the government has prepared to to deal with any cybersecurity threat to the country's critical infrastructure.

Sputnik — Turnbull said Saturday his government was ready to take on any cyberthreat after a tide of ransomware attacks swept the globe.

"We are continuing to monitor the situation closely and stand ready to deal with any cybersecurity threat to Australia's critical infrastructure," Turnbull said through a spokesman quoted by the local news agency AAP.

The Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC), a state cyberauthority, said in a statement it was not aware of any Australian victims of the virus, which locks computers and demands payments in Bitcoins.
But the ACSC warned many Australian networks were vulnerable to infection. "The ACSC assess this campaign is highly likely to impact Australian government, industry, and individuals," the authority said.

The malicious software called WannaCry has reportedly infected computers in up to a hundred countries, affecting the British public health system NHS, the German state rail company Deutsche Bahn and the Russian Interior Ministry.