Abigail Bradshaw says security must come before uptime for Australian services

The Australian Signals Directorate has told residents to expect sudden interruptions to essential online services.

The agency stated that protecting systems is more important than keeping them available. This means services may go offline while security teams work on fixes.

In its annual report released on Monday, the ASD recorded 1,500 cybersecurity incidents during the 2025-26 period. That number is 20% higher than the previous year. The agency also notified external organizations about more than 4,400 potentially malicious events. This notification count rose by 80% over the last twelve months.

Director General Abigail Bradshaw said Australia must speed up improvements to its technology foundations. She urged leaders to treat cybersecurity as a central business risk. Bradshaw called for the use of AI tools to automate defensive work and help organizations stay ahead of attackers.

The report identified hostile foreign governments, criminals, and hackers as the main threats. These actors are using artificial intelligence to gather intelligence and steal money. State-based actors from the Indo-Pacific region are conducting attacks in preparation for possible future conflicts.

Bradshaw pointed to ageing technology as a major weakness. Systems whose makers no longer provide updates are attractive targets for hackers. Last week, new weaknesses in PHP, the language behind most websites, forced governments and businesses to rush patches.

Defence minister Richard Marles and home affairs minister Tony Burke said the government is preparing for these threats. Both officials agreed that security should take priority over system availability. This approach may result in more temporary service blackouts as organizations secure their networks.