Labor plan would give home affairs minister powers over critical infrastructure during cyber-attacks

Clare O’Neil releases consultation paper on new cybersecurity legislation, which proposes changes to Security of Critical Infrastructure Act

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Australia’s home affairs minister would be able to order critical infrastructure such as energy, transport or communications entities to take or cease action during a significant cybersecurity situation, under changes proposed by the federal government.

In related changes billed as a response to the 2022 Optus and Medibank incidents, the minister could also order companies to replace personal documents compromised in a data breach, or to share customer data with banks in a bid to prevent further fraud.

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