The Australian Cyber Security Center (ACSC) strongly advises against paying ransoms of any amount to cybercriminals. In some circumstances, these payments could even be illegal. The Australian government is tightening its cybersecurity regulations to align with the United State's new stance on nation-state threats. As a result, there have been significant changes to how Australian businesses are expected to respond to cyberattacks.

In an effort to significantly improve the cyber resilience of Australian businesses, the Australian federal government is mandating compliance across all eight cybersecurity controls of the Essential Eight framework. This is an ambitious move that may be burdensome to the many entities still struggling to comply with just the top four controls of the Essential Eight.

In an ambitious leap towards improving the Nation’s security posture, President Joe Biden has instituted an Executive Order to improve cyber threat information sharing between the U.S Government and the Private Sector. The goal is to align cybersecurity initiatives and minimize future threats to national security by modernizing cybersecurity defenses in the United States.

If you're an Australian business and confused about which cybersecurity frameworks you should be complying with, you're not alone. Unlike the United States, Australia currently doesn't have clear mandatory minimum cybersecurity standards for businesses. This is likely to change in the near future. The Australian government is being pressured to follow the United State's lead in lifting the Nation's security posture.