Australia pledges cyber help
Australia has promised cyber support as the risk of war in Europe continues.
The Australian Government says it will expand cyber training for Ukrainian officials as fears of a Russian invasion continue to mount.
The United Kingdom, Australia and the United States have together blamed Russia's main intelligence agency for cyber attacks on Ukraine's major banks in recent days, with Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Defence Minister Peter Dutton declaring Russia is responsible for an “ongoing unacceptable and disruptive pattern of malicious cyber activity”.
“The international community must not tolerate Russia's misuse of cyberspace to undermine Ukraine's national security, sovereignty and territorial integrity by seeking to disrupt essential services, businesses and community confidence,” they said in a statement.
“Australia will continue providing cyber security assistance to the Ukrainian government, including through a new bilateral Cyber Policy Dialogue and further cyber security training for Ukrainian officials.”
Australia already provides cyber training to Ukraine's military, but Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has reportedly called for additional technical assistance from Australia and several other countries.
Senator Payne met with Mr Kuleba at the Munich Security Conference over the weekend to discuss further support Australia could provide.
Ongoing coverage of the Ukraine-Russia tensions is accessible here.