Australia urged businesses and other organizations to prepare for cyber-related service interruptions and put system security ahead of continuous availability, as its cyber agency reported rising incident responses and warned that AI can make vulnerability exploitation easier and help attackers operate at greater scale.
The Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) released its 2025–26 Annual Cyber Threat Report on Oct. 26. ASD’s Australian Cyber Security Centre responded to 1,524 cyber security incidents during the Australian financial year, a 20% increase from the prior year and 36% above the level five years earlier, the report says.
The agency issued more than 4,400 notifications about potentially malicious activity, almost 80% more than in 2024–25. That total comprised more than 2,200 individual notifications and collective notifications reaching more than 2,100 entities. The notices flag possible activity and are not a tally of confirmed attacks.
ASD says artificial intelligence can make vulnerability exploitation less demanding for attackers and allow them to operate at greater scale. The report describes AI as amplifying existing cyber risks rather than introducing an entirely new type of threat. It identifies unpatched systems and social engineering as recognized weaknesses, while treating replacement of older technology as a separate priority.
State-sponsored actors and cybercriminals target Australian government, business and critical-infrastructure networks for espionage, financial gain or to prepare for possible future disruption, the report says. That puts public agencies and private operators among the potential targets, alongside individuals and businesses affected by cybercrime.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles said in the joint government release that AI is enabling attacks that are “faster, more sophisticated and scalable.”
The government release urges organizations to retire older IT, keep records of cyber events and address risks across supplier networks. ASD’s report also lists stronger patching and preparation for AI-related threats among the work ahead. It says those priorities will remain in focus for the Australian Cyber Security Centre during 2026–27.
The official sources do not name online services expected to go offline or provide a specific outage forecast.
