Defence warns again on cyber security and backups

Backing up your data is one of the best defences against ransomware attacks conducted by the opportunistic cyber criminals who continue to threaten Australian businesses, organisations, and families. Assistant Minister for Defence Andrew Hastie said the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) continues to receive increased reports of ransomware incidents, however there are simple steps all Australians can take to protect themselves against cyber attacks. “Backups are one of the best ways to build resistance against ransomware, making it much harder for cyber-criminals to hold Australians to ransom,” Hastie said. “Regularly backing up your data and keeping it off your network on a USB or in the cloud will make it faster and easier to restore your important files if they ever become lost, stolen, or compromised. In the case of ransomware, it may not be possible to recover data and get your business or projects back up and running without backups stored offline. Your private and personal information – health, financial, and valued photos – are at risk if they are not regularly backed up in a safe location.” Backups are digital copies of valuable information stored on devices, such as photos, documents, videos, and data from applications. Backups can be saved to external storage devices or to the cloud. ACSC step-by-step guides on backing up, ransomware prevention and response guides, and other advice and information, are available at cyber.gov.au. If you have been a victim of cybercrime, please report it through ReportCyber. For Editorial Inquiries Contact: Editor Kym Bergmann at [email protected] For Advertising Inquiries Contact: Director of Sales Graham Joss at [email protected]