Australians should prepare for important online services to go offline without warning, according to the country’s signals intelligence agency. The Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) said that “system security must be prioritised over system availability.”
The warning came in the agency’s annual cyber threat report, released on Tuesday. The report says artificial intelligence is helping attackers launch more dangerous threats than before.
ASD said hostile foreign governments, criminals and hackers are using AI to gather intelligence, disrupt critical infrastructure and steal money.
Cyber Incidents Rise Sharply
ASD responded to 1,500 cybersecurity incidents in the 2025-26 year. That is an increase of 20% from the year before.
The agency also alerted businesses, governments and critical infrastructure operators to more than 4,400 potential malicious cyber incidents. That figure rose 80% in one year.
According to the report, government and private networks faced “persistent” breach attempts from state-based actors last year.
ASD said some of these actors “in the Indo-Pacific” may be preparing for possible future conflicts. This could include “future intelligence collection or disruption activities.”
The agency said AI is helping cybercriminals and state-based actors find weaknesses and launch attacks faster. It warned that “all network owners are facing elevated threat levels.”
ASD said cybersecurity is now a “core business risk and leadership responsibility” for every organisation. It is no longer only a technical issue.
Agency Calls for AI Defences
ASD director general Abigail Bradshaw said Australia needs advanced AI to fight back. “We need AI tools to help automate our defences to stay ahead of AI-enabled attackers,” she said on Monday.
The report said AI tools can help spot weak points or suspicious behaviour and improve responses to attacks.
Bradshaw has previously said ASD has access to Anthropic’s Mythos model. The AI company said it could not release the tool publicly because it can identify unknown flaws in IT systems.
Defence Minister Richard Marles said Australians “must enhance their cyber defences while harnessing AI’s benefit.” Home Affairs and Cybersecurity Minister Tony Burke said the government was preparing for the threats and opportunities of new technology.
Bradshaw said “legacy technology” is among the biggest risks. This includes old systems and devices that no longer receive updates from their makers.
Last week, newly found flaws in PHP, a programming language behind most websites, sent governments and businesses rushing to fix the problem.
ASD urged organisations to update their systems, ask the agency for help and report suspicious activity.
Bradshaw and Marles said organisations should put system security ahead of keeping services online. This means more services may go offline while they are being secured.
