Australia condemns Russia's 'pattern of malicious cyber activity'

The Morrison Government has joined its allies in condemning a “pattern of malicious cyber activity” by Russia, it says has targeted political, business and media institutions worldwide.

In a joint statement with Foreign Minister, Marise Payne, the prime minister said the behaviour’s “unacceptable” and called on all countries, including Russia, to stop.

Mr Morrison said the assertion was based on advice from Australia’s intelligence agencies and international partners and allies.

“The Russian military, and their intelligence arm, the GRU, is responsible for this pattern of malicious cyber activity,” Mr Morrison said.

The statement listed a number of examples, including the hacking, by the Russian military, of the US Democratic National Committee, from which documents were published on-line.

READ MORE: Russian hackers have infected 'millions of machines' across the world

The prime minister said Australia hadn’t been “significantly impacted”, but the actions affected the ability of the public elsewhere “to go about their daily lives”.

“It caused significant, indiscriminate harm to civilian infrastructure and resulted in millions of dollars in economic damage, including in Russia.

“This is unacceptable and the Australian Government calls on all countries, including Russia, to refrain from these types of malicious activities.

“Cyber space is not the wild west. The international community, including Russia, has agreed that international laws and norms of responsible state behaviour apply in cyber space.”

Australian agencies believe the greatest threat comes from China, but no such public warnings have been issued against Beijing, our biggest trading partner.