Both Prime Ministers offer support in the event of an attack.
The Prime Ministers of Australia and New Zealand have confirmed that they are working in an alliance to deal with any incoming cyber-attack
In a joint press conference held today, Anthony Albanese, Prime Minister Of Australia, acknowledged New Zealand’s current defence review, and discussing the increasingly important role cyberspace plays in national security, said the two neighbouring nations have agreed to enhance cooperation in tackling cyber threats.
“We reaffirmed that international law applies in cyberspace and that a cyber-attack on either country could, depending on its nature, constitute an attack under Article IV of the ANZUS Treaty,” Albanese said.
Christopher Luxon, Prime Minister Of New Zealand said the alliance can come into play if either New Zealand or Australia face a sufficiently severe cyber-attack.
Armed Attack
Article IV of the treaty states that “an armed attack in the Pacific Area on any of the Parties would be dangerous to its own peace and safety and declares that it would act to meet the common danger in accordance with its constitutional processes.”
Also, any such armed attack and all measures taken as a result thereof shall be immediately reported to the Security Council of the United Nations.
Asked about the cyber-attack initiative, in terms of triggering Article Four, Luxon said that modern warfare has moved into the cyberspace and should New Zealand come under a severe cyber-attack, “we would invoke the arrangements we have under our allies, our arrangements.”
He said “We're just making sure that that is modern and it's reflective of the environment that we operate within and how warfare is undertaken. So, it's a pretty severe cyber-attack that we would need to see, but it's important that we have that covered.”
Impact of Attack
Albanese said the assessment would be made on a case by case basis, “but a cyber-attack can have as great an impact as an attack from traditional means.”
Acknowledging that an attack on the economy can bring down the operation of an entire society, he said its cyber defences have been ramped up, and it is working with the business community and with civil society as well on these issues, because we saw recently an impact that was global from an event.
“So we need to prepare for all of these issues and we need to modernise and make sure that the agreement that we have reflects modern issues,” Albanese said.
Written by
Dan Raywood
Senior Editor
SC Media UK
Dan Raywood is a B2B journalist with more than 20 years of experience, including covering cybersecurity for the past 16 years. He has extensively covered topics from Advanced Persistent Threats and nation-state hackers to major data breaches and regulatory changes.
He has spoken at events including 44CON, Infosecurity Europe, RANT Conference, BSides Scotland, Steelcon and ESET Security Days.
Outside work, Dan enjoys supporting Tottenham Hotspur, managing mischievous cats, and sampling craft beers.
